


White Paladin Series: Voltron Legendary Defender Reader Insert

by Madzilla1917



Series: The White Paladin Series [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aliens, Altea (Voltron), Bonding, Reader-Insert, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Mom Allura (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), Teamwork, Wingfic, Wings, relationships tbd - Freeform, there will be a christmas episode, voltron: legendary defender - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 08:08:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 33,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27600049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madzilla1917/pseuds/Madzilla1917
Summary: 18-year-old Y/n L/n was just a cadet at the garrison like anyone else. Sticking with her friends, bonding with her sister, and working as a field medic. Then, she gets sucked into space with her friends, working as the pilot of the White Lion and trying to keep the universe safe. However, her past is unknown and filled with mystery as she tries to discover who she is and help save the universe from Zarkon's reign. Join her as she uncovers who she is and discovers her new family along the way.
Series: The White Paladin Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017769
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. Episode 1: Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first reader insert ever and I hope you enjoy it!

“Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14. Begin descent to Kerberos for rescue mission.” Lance says as he puts the ship into a light nosedive. Sitting to the right of Lance, you look over the ship to make sure everything functions properly. As the ship’s medic and one of the mechanics, it’s your job to make sure the ship stays in one piece and everyone makes it through the mission. However, looking back at Hunk, he seems queasy from all the shaking and clutches his seat.

“Lance, can you keep this thing straight?” Hunk groans, looking pale.

“Relax, Hunk, I'm just getting a feel for the stick.” Lance replies, “It's not like I did this!” Lance says as he jerks the joystick to the side hard. The ship tilts and Hunk holds onto his chair.

“-Or this!-” Lance says, again making the ship tilt. Hunk groans as he turns to Lance.

“Okay, unless you want to wipe beef stroganoff out of all the little nooks and crannies in this thing, you'd better knock it off, man!” Before Hunk can continue, an alert pops up in front of Pidge.

“We've picked up a distress beacon!” Pidge informs Lance.

“All right, look alive, team! Pidge, track coordinates.” Lance orders, continuing to pilot the ship.

“Copy.” Pidge says. You keep a close eye on the ship when you notice one of the hydraulic stabilizers is out.

“Lance, take a look at this.” You say, swiping your screen to the left so Lance could see it. The ship begins to shake and Hunk looks to Lance.

“Knock it off, Lance! Please!” Hunk pleads to Lance as he clutches his chair.

“This one's on you, buddy. We've got a hydraulic stabilizer out.” Lance says, looking back to Hunk.

The ship begins to rumble again and Hunk clutches his stomach. You rush back towards Hunk and rub his back.

“Just breathe, Hunk. It’ll pass.” You tell him. He looks up at you and smiles but his stomach rumbles again.

“Oh, no.” He says.

“Oh, no. Fix now, puke later.” Lance says, waiting for Pidge to tell him where to fly.

“I lost contact.” Pidge says, “The shaking is interfering with our sensors.” You begin to head back to your seat before the shaking increases.

“Come on, Hunk!” Lance says, looking back at Hunk.

“It's not responding.” He says before heading over to the trash can. An alert pops up on Lance’s screen, showing where the vessel is located on the planet.

“Never mind, fellas. Thar she blows. Preparing for approach on visual.” Lance says.

“I don't think that's advisable with our current mechanical and gastrointestinal issues.” Pidge says, glancing worriedly at Hunk.

“Agreed.” Hunk says. You turn to Lance.

“Lance, are you sure this is the best course of action?”

“Stop worrying, Y/n. This baby can take it, can't you, champ?” Lance says, patting the ship to affirm his comment. However, the ship shakes when he does. You eye a flustered Lance as he recomposes himself.

“See? She was nodding. She was nodding. Pidge, hail down to them and let them know their ride is here.” Lance says. Pidge stands up from her seat and pulls off a communication device.

“Attention, lunar vessel--” Pidge starts before the shaking of the ship knocks her off her seat and onto you. You both crash to the ground and try to stand up.

“What are you doing? Pidge, Y/n, buckle your belts. And, Hunk, stop that shaking!” Lance says as you and Pidge return to your seats.

“I'm try--” Hunk says before turning towards the trashcan, “Oh, no.” Hunk finally throws up in the trash can and then returns to his seat. He seems okay but you write a mental note to yourself to go through some more antigravity training sessions with him later. 

“Attention, lunar vessel, this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft One Victor Six Three Tango. Coming in for landing and extraction, against crew recommendations.” Pidge says, glaring at Lance.

“No time for your mutinous comments now, Pidge. They're going under and we're going in.” Lance says as he maneuvers the ship towards an ice overhang

“Look out for that overhang!” Pidge yells worriedly.

“Lance, is there any other course we can take?” You ask.

“No worries, Y/n. My first year in flight school, know what they called me? They called me "The Tailor" because of how I thread the needle.” You roll your eyes at Lance. You don’t need the mission failing because of “the tailor” trying to show off.

“Come around, come around! Come on, come on!” Lance quietly mutters to himself as he tries to turn the ship in time. When the ship goes through the overhang, there’s a loud crash and alarms pop up on everyone’s screens.

“We lost a wing!” Hunk reports to Lance.

“Oh, man.” Lance says, looking unhappy.

“Brace yourselves!” You yell to the group before the ship crashes to the ground and you all grunt from the impact. When you look up, the screen has gone black and a voice reads the words on the screen.

“Simulation failed.”

“Nice work, Tailor.” Pidge tells Lance as the doors on the back of the simulator open up to reveal an angry Iverson.

“Roll out, donkeys!” He yells to the group as we all stand up and begin walking towards the door. You stop Lance before he leaves.

“Don’t worry, Lance. You did your best.” He smiles weakly at you and prepares for yelling from Iverson. As you and the others are lined up outside the simulator, you block out Iverson’s lecture and begin making a list of what you and the group can improve on for next time. However, you begin listening when you hear him start talking about the Kerberos mission.

“These kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos Mission.” Iverson says as you eye an angry Pidge.

“That's not true, sir!” Pidge says angrily to Iverson.

“What did you say?” He says, whipping around to face Pidge. You knew that she would fight anyone, including Iverson, that tried to say the mission was from pilot error or engine failure. You and Pidge were some of the only people trying to find out what really happened. You helped her establish her alias as Pidge Gunderson and were her adopted sister. You and Lance rushed to hold her back as Lance tries to explain her actions.

“Sorry, sir. I think he hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken.” Lance says to Iverson, smiling innocently.

“I hope I don't need to remind you that the only reason you're here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out. Don't follow in his footsteps. Next!” Iverson yells as the next group of cadets come towards the simulator. Pidge shakes you and Lance off and rushes back towards the dorms. Hunk looks towards Pidge worriedly but follows her towards the dorms. You begin to follow when Lance grabs your shoulder and stops you.

“Y/n, can we talk?” Lance says to you.

“Of course.” You say, leading Lance to an empty hallway. “What’s up?” You ask.

Lance wrings his hands worriedly and looks at you. “Is Pidge okay? Every time someone brings up the Kerberos mission, he lashes out. I feel like he’s not telling us something and that whatever it is seems to really be bothering him.”

“Lance, Pidge is just dealing with a lot right now. It’s nothing you or Hunk did but it’s something hard for him to talk about.” Lance nods but paces and continues talking.

“Okay. It’s just; I don’t want Pidge to feel like he can’t talk to us. We’re a team and I don’t want him to feel nervous or unable to talk with us about this stuff.” You walk to Lance and stop him from pacing as he faces you. He smiles at you wearily.

Lance's voice quiets as he continues. “You’re his best friend, Y/n. Can you just talk to him and tell him what I told you? Please?” You stand on your tiptoes and pull Lance into a hug. You feel his heartbeat quicken and can faintly smell coconut as you hug him close. You try to play your words carefully, knowing that Pidge should tell them when she is ready to.

“Of course, Lance. Pidge knows that you guys are here for him. You have no idea how much Pidge and I appreciate you guys. You guys are like family and I know that Pidge will tell you when he’s ready.” He nods, giving you one last squeeze before pulling away. You face Lance and smile, knowing he’ll be okay.

“Thanks, Y/n.” He says, his cheeks dusted with a light blush. “I’ve got to head back to the dorms. Thanks for everything.” Lance says, walking away and waving. You wave back and feel red as well. Were you blushing? Lance had never tried to hit on you like every other girl he met but you thought maybe… “Yeah right.” You said softly, shaking your head. You decided to head back to the dorms and began heading back.

(Time Skip to you and Pidge’s dorm, later that evening)

You relaxed on your bed, listening to other cadets’ head back to their dorms before lights out. Pidge had been strangely quiet tonight and you guessed it was from Iverson’s lecture earlier. You look over to Pidge and see her hunched over her laptop, brow scrunched, and engrossed in her work. She looks more angry than interested in whatever she was typing and you decided enough was enough.

“Hey, girlie, you gonna talk to me?” You say while throwing a wad of paper at her. You needed to try and talk with her. She angrily swiped the wad of paper off the bed and continued working, her form tense.

“What’s there to talk about?” She said, avoiding any interaction with you. You sprung up from your bed and rushed over to hers. You shut the top of her laptop and looked into her eyes which refused to meet yours.

“Hey, I know it was a long day with Iverson but we are so close to finding out what really happened on the mission. I know Iverson is intolerable sometimes but you can’t challenge everyone that undermines the missions to a fight.” You relax a little and sit down on the edge of the bed but continue, looking down, “I’m worried about you, Pidge. And so are Lance and Hunk. You need to realize that we can help you whenever you need it or, heck, even if you just need a sparring partner. We would all drop everything to help you. I know it’s hard with dad and Matt missing but we will find them.” Pidge looks to you and nods, putting her laptop down and pulling her legs to her chest.

“It’s just… every time we seem to find something that could help us find them, it slips away. I-I just want to see them again.” Pidge says softly, her breath hitching. You slide next to her and hug her, feeling her catch her breath. You rub her back and just sit with her.

“We’ll find them, Katie, okay?” You say, “I swear on my life, we will.” You think back on your life and how much different it would be if you hadn’t met the Holts. You didn’t know where your parents were and were adopted by the Holt’s two years before they had Katie. They tried to find your parents with blood tests and a background check but nothing ever came up. Even though you didn’t know where your parents were, the Holt’s would always be your family. When Sam and Matt went missing on the Kerberos mission, it hit you just as hard as the others. You and Pidge wouldn’t stop until you found them and joining the Garrison brought you one step closer.

Pidge pulls away and smiles gratefully. You smile back and fall back onto her bed, looking at the ceiling. She follows suit and belly flops next to you. You laugh softly as Pidge begins to play with your hair. Her hand comes up to your neck and she rubs a birthmark on the back of it.

“Can I see it?” She asks as you flip onto your side so she can look at it. She looks closely at it and hums in wonder.

“You know,” she says, “They kind of look like wings.” You chuckle and turn back to her.

“You’re one to talk.” You say, pulling down her sleeve to reveal a tree-shaped birthmark on the base of her shoulder. “Yours looks like a tree.”

“You know,” she says, “studies show that birthmarks can actually represent something major in our lives. I don’t know what a tree would mean.” You laugh and look at her.

“Yeah, you NEVER go outside.” She grabs her pillow and hits you as you throw up your hands in surrender. “Alright, alright.” You say. You smile, looking ready to continue before her laptop beeps with an alert. She lunges for it and begins looking to see what happened. Her eyes light up and she bolts up, already grabbing her backpack.

“There’s another transmission! We have to get to the roof!” Pidge says, rushing to pack her bag. You bolt up as well, grabbing your bag. It already has a few things in it but you grab your phone, headphones, and drawing notebook before opening the door. You keep a lookout as Pidge grabs a few more things that she shoves in her bag. You check once more before the two of you head to the roof.

(Time skip to the roof)

You sit on the roof near Pidge, looking up at the stars and glancing at Pidge. She looks engrossed in her work and listens to her headphones intensely. You know better than to interrupt her and put on your own headphones, grab your drawing tablet, and set to draw a memory.

The memory is of a day in the past on your birthday. The day had been great, hanging out with Lance, Hunk, and Pidge but you felt something had been missing. When the party was over, you couldn’t stop thinking about your parents and how much you missed them. You excused yourself to your room and collapsed to the floor when you got there. You just couldn’t stop crying. When Pidge went searching for you, she heard you crying in your room and got the others. Lance decided to storm the room.

“Dogpile!!” He shouted before startling and jumping on you. Hunk and Pidge followed suit and attacked and tickled you. After cheering you up, the others sat with you and talked. They offered support and let you know how much you meant to them and that even though you didn’t know where your family was, they would always be your family.

You smiled in remembrance and finished up a couple parts of the drawing before putting it and your music away. You took off your headphones and were about to ask Pidge how she was doing when someone beats you to it.

“You come up here to rock out?” Lance asks Pidge. Lance and Hunk stand behind Pidge, marveling at her equipment. You wave to the two. Hunk returns it but Lance seems focused on Pidge. Pidge faces Lance, looking startled.

“Oh, Lance, Hunk. No, um, just looking at the stars with Y/n.” Lance looks suspiciously at Pidge, not buying the story.

“Where'd you get this stuff? It doesn't look like Garrison tech.” He says as Hunk looks closely at the Pidge’s gear.

“I built it.” She says proudly as Hunk reaches forward to touch it.

“You built all of this?” Hunk asks, almost touching the gear before Pidge slaps his hand away.

“Stop it!” she says as Hunk walks over to sit by you, “With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system.”

“That right?” Lance says, crossing his arms, “All the way to Kerberos?” Pidge winces as he figured out what she was doing. “You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up. What's your deal?” Lance continues as Hunk, again, reaches forward to touch Pidge’s gear. You try to warn him before Pidge sees and while she is still distracted by Lance. However, she turns around just as he is about to touch it.

“Second warning, Hunk!” She says as Hunk groans in defeat. You laugh and beckon him over. Hunk sits behind you and begins braiding your hair. Whenever he is nervous, he usually does and you don’t mind, especially since he is really good at fishtails. You look over to Lance, who seems frustrated that Pidge is still not opening up. You’re glad that he is confronting Pidge about what he talked about with you and you wonder how Pidge will react.

“Look, Pidge, if we're going to bond as a team, we can't have any secrets.” Lance says, looking at her sincerely.

“Fine.” Pidge says, “The world as you know it is about to change.” Pidge looks over to you and you nod, ready to back her up. Pidge continues talking to Lance as Hunk, FOR THE THIRD TIME, slowly reaches forward towards Pidge’s equipment. You smile and lean back, not wanting to invoke her fury.

“The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake.” She says before seeing Hunk, “Stop touching my equipment!” Hunk finally backs down and finishes off your braid. Pidge continues with her explanation.

“So, I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter.” Pidge says as Hunk and Lance look at her surprised.

“Whoa. What?” Hunk says, “Aliens?”

“Okay.” Lance says, “So, you're both insane. Got it.”

“We’re not insane, Lance. Show them, Pidge.” You say, looking to Pidge. She looks to Hunk and Lance and holds up a notepad with scribbles on it. There is one large word in the middle reading Voltron.

“Y/n’s right. They’ve been broadcasting signals for a while, now, and they keep repeating one word, Voltron. And tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it.” Lance looks at Pidge, seeming to open up to the idea.

“How crazy?” He asks before the alarms all over the Garrison begin going off. Cruisers begin heading out of the Garrison and you see security rushing all-around below. You hear Iverson over the speakers.

“Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice.”

You all look up and see a large object hurtling towards the ground. Hunk squints his eyes, trying to see what it is.

“What's going on? Is that a meteor? A very, very big meteor?” Hunk says as Pidge grabs her binoculars to look at the object.

“It's a ship.” She says as Lance grabs her binoculars. She yelps as Lance looks through the binoculars.

“Holy crow!” He yells, “I can't believe what I'm seeing! That's not one of ours.” The ship nears the ground as we watch it in wonder of where it came from.

“No. It's one of theirs.” Pidge says.

“So, wait. There really are aliens out there?” Hunk says, starting to panic. You rush over and breathe with him.

“Hunk,” You say, “Focus on me. Breathe in and out.” You take deep breaths with him as Pidge packs her stuff and Lance watches you and Hunk. Hunk looks to you and nods his head.

“I’m okay. Thanks, Y/n.” You smile and nod. Lance seems relieved Hunk’s okay and turns to Pidge. You notice that the ship has crashed and that a majority of the security personnel are rushing towards the crash site.

“We've got to see that ship!” Pidge says, rushing towards the door with Lance.

“Hunk, Y/n, come on!” Lance says, following Pidge. Hunk looks glued to his position and looks to you.

“Don’t worry, Hunk. It’ll be okay.” You say, beckoning him to follow. His shoulders slump but he reluctantly follows you.

“Oh, this is the worst team-building exercise ever.”

(Time skip to the cliff overlooking the building)

Lance, Hunk, you, and Pidge sit on a large cliff overlooking the building where the ship was brought. Pidge works on her laptop, trying to hack into the building and you and Hunk watch with Lance. Lance looks through Pidge’s binoculars and looks over the sight. His eyes land on the ship.

“Whoa! What the heck is that thing?” He says before moving to a woman coming out of the building, “And who the heck is she?” He says smugly before Pidge hits him on the head. You and Hunk laugh before Lance returns to scoping the area. “Ow! Right, alien ship. Man, we'll never get past all of those guards to get a look.”

“Aw, man.” Hunk says, turning around to leave, “Yeah, yeah, I guess there's nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right?”

“Wait.” Pidge says, fiddling with something on her laptop, “They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!” The camera suddenly shows a room with a man tied down to a table. There is personnel all around him as he struggles to get free.

“Hey! What are you doing?” He asks the men as they approach him.

“Calm down, Shiro. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests.” You gasp as you recognize the pilot of the Kerberos mission. You remember meeting him before they left for Kerberos and even though you didn’t know him that well, you were glad he was safe.

“That’s Iverson,” You tell the group, recognizing the voice, “But what’s he doing there?”

“You have to listen to me! They destroy worlds!” Shiro says as he struggles against the binding, “Aliens are coming!”

“That's Shiro! The pilot of the Kerberos Mission! That guy's my hero!” Lance says to the group, gesturing at Shiro.

“Guess he's not dead in space, after all.” Hunk says from behind you.

“Where's the rest of the crew?” Pidge says softly to you.

“We’ll find them, Pidge.” You reassure her as you continue watching.

“Do you know how long you've been gone?” Iverson questions Shiro, who just seems focused on getting out of his bindings.

“I don't know. Months? Years? Look, there's no time. Aliens are coming here for a weapon. They're probably on their way. They'll destroy us. We have to find Voltron.” You all gasp as you hear him say the word.

“Voltron!” Pidge says as one of the personnel approach Iverson.

“Sir, take a look at this. It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic.” Iverson looks to Shiro and goes silent.

“Put him under until we know what that thing can do.” He finally says as Shiro’s eyes go wide. He struggles harder against the bonds.

“Don't put me under! No! There's no time!” Shiro says before passing out from the gas.

“They didn't ask about the rest of the crew.” Pidge says disappointedly. You place a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

“What are they doing? He's a legend. They're not even gonna listen to him?”

“We have to get him out. They’re not listening to him and he was trying to tell them something. We can’t just sit back and do nothing.” You say to the group as Hunk puts up his hands in argument.

“I hate to be the voice of reason, always, but weren't we watching on TV because there was no way to get past the guards?” Hunk says, posing a valid point.

“That was before we were properly motivated.” Lance says, “We've just got to think. Could we tunnel in?”

“Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs.” Pidge suggests.

“Or we dress up like cooks, head back to the dorms, sneak into the commissary-- little late-night snack.” Hunk says, trying to convince the group to head back to the dorms and already imagining the food he could be eating right now.

“Another time, Hunk. We have to help him.” You tell him. He looks to you and nods.

“What we need is a distraction.” Lance says as, coincidently, a huge explosion goes off away from the building. The explosion attracts almost every guard and cruiser to investigate. The group screams as the explosion goes off and Hunk looks to the others in panic.

“Well, there’s your distraction, Lance.” You say.

“Is that the aliens? Is that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!” He says as Pidge shakes her head.

“No, those explosions were a distraction, for him.” She says, pointing to a man on a cruiser approaching the building, “The Garrison's headed toward the blast, and he's sneaking in from the other side.” The man steps off the cruiser and begins heading towards the building. Lance looks through Pidge’s binoculars angrily and glares at the man.

“No way!” Lance says, “Oh, he is not going to beat us in there! That guy is always trying to one-up me!” Lance begins to rush towards the building as Pidge packs her gear to follow.

“Who is it?” You ask.

“Keith!” He responds

“Who?” Pidge asks, confused

“Are you sure?” Hunk says, following down the cliff after Lance.

“Oh, I'd recognize that mullet anywhere!”

“Who's Keith?” Pidge asks again as the two of you head down the cliff, running after Lance. You speed up from the incline of the cliff and your braid comes out with your hair flying behind you. You approach the building and the door opens up. You rush inside with the others and come to a split in the main area.

“Which way, Pidge?” You say, turning to her. She points to the right and we dash down the hallway. The walls are octagon shaped and you rush to a door at the end of the hallway. You open it up to find some of the men from the lab unconscious on the ground. You see the guy from the cruiser, Keith, trying to help Shiro. You take a second to finally size up the guy. He is wearing black pants and shoes with a red jacket. He has a utility belt around his waist and a knife tied to his back. His hair is a little long and he looks at the group with toughness. You feel that this guy had been through a lot and come out stronger because of it. Before you can say anything, Lance rushes forward to help lift up Shiro.

“Nope. No, you-- No, no, no. No, you don't.” Lance says, putting Shiro’s arm over his shoulder, “I'm saving Shiro.” Keith looks at Lance, confused.

“Who are you?” He asks, putting Shiro’s other arm over his shoulder.

“Who am I? Uh, the name's Lance.” Lance says as Keith stares at him blankly.

“We were in the same class at the Garrison.” Lance says.

“Really? Are you an engineer?” Keith questions.

“No, I'm a pilot! We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck.” Lance says as Keith’s eyes light up in recognition.

“Oh, wait. I remember you. You're a cargo pilot.”

“Well, not anymore. I'm fighter class now, thanks to you washing out.”

“Well, congratulations.” Keith says sarcastically.

“Alright, you two can finish yelling at each other after we get Shiro out of here. Let’s move.” You say, heading for the door with Pidge and Hunk. You can hear people outside and want to leave before too many get here. As you near the exit, three security personnel enter from outside, spotting the group and rushing to apprehend you. You push Hunk and Pidge behind you and get into a fighting stance. 

The first man rushes you and tries to punch you but you dodge his punch, throw him off balance, and slam him into a wall. The second man grabs you while you are turned while the third heads for the group. Hunk and Pidge stand in front of Keith, Lance, and Shiro, unsure but ready to fight when needed. You find your footing, slam on the man’s foot, square your stance, and flip the man over your shoulder onto the other guy heading for Pidge. They slam into each other and fall silent. You turn to the first guy and see he’s down too. You take a couple of breaths and turn to the group. Pidge, Hunk, and Lance stare at you amazed and Keith looks at you with newfound respect.

“Let’s go!” You yell, shaking the group out of their position, and you all bolt outside. You see the rest of the security and personnel coming back to the building.

“Oh, man.” Hunk says, “They're coming back and they do not look happy. We've got to go.”

“Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?” Hunk asks, heading for the back of the cruiser. As he and Pidge get on, the back tips, and they yelp. You help Lance lift Shiro onto the cruiser and boost yourself up.

“Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?” Pidge asks Keith as he starts the cruiser.

“No.” He says, seeing the other rovers approaching and driving the cruiser away from the building. Keith goes as fast as the cruiser can and you look back to see Shiro crushing Pidge.

“Why am I holding this guy?” Pidge asks as you move Shiro off her and next to you. You hold onto him tightly and try to keep the two of you balanced.

“Hey, we did all fit.” Hunk says happily from the back of the cruiser. Keith hurries to outdrive the others and maneuvers the best he can over the desert floor. 

“Can't this thing go any faster?” Lance asks, seeing the rovers gaining.

“We could toss out some non-essential weight.” Keith says, smiling.

“Oh, right!” Lance says as he innocently looks for something to throw off. After realizing what Keith meant, he smirks.

“Okay, so that was an insult. I get it.”

“Big man, lean left!” Keith shouts. We all yell as the cruiser tilts and a rover knocks another off the track. However, a couple is still chasing after the group.

“Aw, man! Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery! No, no. He's fine.” Hunk says, realizing what happened.

“Big man, lean right!” Keith shouts as he drives into a divot in the canyon and expertly continues driving. Your eyes widen as the canyon drop off starts to come up and Keith is heading right for it.

“Guys? Is-Is that a cliff up ahead?” Hunk yells pointing at the drop-off. Pidge and Lance yell at Keith to not go but he looks forward and increases speed.

“Yup.” He says, plunging the cruiser over the drop off and into a free fall.

“What are you doing? You're going to kill us all!” Lance shouts at Keith.

“Shut up and trust me!” Keith says, looking back at the group. He makes eye contact with you and smiles. At the last second, he pulls up, and the cruiser speeds away from the hill, leaving several rovers behind at the top.

(Time skip ahead.)

When we arrive at the house, Shiro wakes up and Keith goes to talk with him privately. They walk over to a clearing and watch the sunrise. You decide to head for the house and the others follow suit. You jump off the cruiser and hear a large thump. Hunk groans in pain and clutches his leg. You rush over and see a large gash on his calf. It’s bleeding a good amount and you need to get it cleaned up.

“Pidge, Lance.” You yell, calling them over to help you get Hunk to the house. As you carry him to the house, Pidge rushes forward and opens the door. She points to a couch where you and Lance set him down.

“Pidge, I need you to go to the kitchen and get some clean wet rag. Lance, find a pair of scissors.” You tell them, focusing on Hunk and his leg. You look it over and see it’s only worse than it looks. He doesn’t need stitches but it will be sore for a couple of days. You pull out a small medical towel from your bag and place it under his leg.

“How are you feeling Hunk?” You ask, pulling out your emergency kit from your bag. He laughs.

“Been better.” He jokes, trying to keep the mood light. You’re glad to see he’s okay and know he’ll be fine. Pidge brings you the rags and Lance finds a pair of scissors. You look to Hunk as you start cutting off the bottom part of his pants leg.

“Okay, Hunk. I have to clean and bandage your leg. You don’t need stitches but it will be sore for a couple of days. You ready?” You ask, putting on gloves. He nods and prepares himself. You switch into medic mode and wipe up the excess blood from the bleeding. When you start disinfecting the wound, Hunk hisses but doesn’t say anything. While cleaning, Shiro and Keith come in and see the scene. They both look worried at the scene.

“What happened?” Shiro says, looking at you.

“It’s okay, Shiro. Just a small injury during the chase. Nothing major.” You turn to Keith. “Keith, do you think you could spare a pair of pants for Hunk?” He nods and turns to Shiro.

“We should get you some new clothes too.” Shiro glances back at the group, still worried, but follows Keith further into the house. You wrap Hunk legs and take off your gloves. You stand up and hold a hand out to Hunk. He takes it, stands up, and tests his leg. He walks around the room a little.

“Stings a bit. But I’ll be fine.” He walks over to you and gives you a hug. “Thanks, y/n.” You return the hug and smile.

“No problem, Hunk.”

“So now that Hunk’s okay,” Lance says, walking toward you, “HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!” Lance yells as Pidge and Hunk flank him. You look at him in confusion and cross your arms.

“Do what?” You ask. He rolls his eyes and raises his hands in excitement.

“The ninja stuff back at the other building!” Pidge and Hunk’s eyes light up and they all slam you with questions.

“How did you do that?”

“Can you teach me?”

“Are you a spy?”

“Alright!” You shout, stopping the onslaught of questions. “Back at the Garrison,” you start, “I always knew that I wanted to be an on-scene medic but I also wanted to be able to protect myself when I needed to. So, for the past year, I’ve been taking self-defense classes and trained for situations like that. I’ve just never had to use it till now.” You shrug your shoulders and Pidge seems out of sorts. She clutches her head.

“How did I not know this?!” She says, then remembering all the nights you came back to the dorms late or when you complained about being sore. Shiro and Keith walk back into the room, having got some new clothes for Shiro and Hunk. They walk in to see Lance and Hunk mimicking you earlier that day fighting. Shiro looks at the two in confusion and Keith lightly smiles.

“Hunk.” He says, walking over to Hunk and giving him the pants. Hunk heads out of the room to change and Shiro turns to Keith.

“So, what have you been working on?” He asks.

“I can't explain it, really.” Keith says, looking at his feet, “After getting booted from the Garrison, I was kind of lost and found myself drawn out to this place. It's like something some energy was telling me to search.”

“For what?” Keith walks over to a board and pulls a tarp off of it, revealing work and drawings.

“Well, I didn't really know at the time until I stumbled across this area.” He says, pointing at an area on the board, “It's an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night. Then, you showed up.” Shiro nods and looks to the rest of the group. You, Lance, and Pidge meet his eyes but Hunk is looking down, thinking about everything Keith said.

“I should thank you all for getting me out.” He says, walking over to Lance and extending his hand, “Lance, right?” Lance reaches for Shiro’s hand. He hesitates, seeing the robotic part of it, but still shakes his hand. Shiro looks to Hunk, who is standing next to Lance, but Hunk is still lost in thought.

“The nervous guy's Hunk.” Says Pidge as she extends her hand and shakes Shiro’s, “I'm Pidge.” Shiro finally comes to you. You extend your hand and give him a firm handshake.

“Y/n.” You say, meeting his eyes.

“So, did anyone else from your crew make it out?” Pidge asks nervously.

“I'm not sure. I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it's just bits and pieces.” Shiro says. Hunk shakes out of his trance and looks to Shiro.

“Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for us? Where are they at this very moment?”

“I can't really put it together. I remember the word Voltron. It's some kind of weapon they're looking for, but I don't know why. Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do.” Hunk pulls out a backpack and begins rummaging through it.

“Well, last night, I was rummaging through Pidge's stuff, and I found this picture.” He says, pulling out a picture of Pidge and Matt, “Look, it's his girlfriend.” He says, smiling innocently. You recognize the photo because you were the one that took it the day Matt left. Pidge lunges for the photo and takes it from Hunk. She also yanks her backpack back from him.

“Hey, give me that!” she says, holding the picture close, “What were you doing in my stuff?”

“I was looking for a candy bar,” Hunk says before pulling a book out from behind his back, “But, then, I started reading his diary.”

“What?” Pidge shouts. You pluck the diary from Hunk’s hands and toss it to Pidge, who quickly shoves it back in her pack. Hunk continues.

“I noticed the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line.” Keith looks at Hunk, confused.

“Frown who?” He asks.

“It's a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only, this element doesn't exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron. I think can build a machine to look for it, like a Voltron Geiger counter.”

“Hunk, you big, gassy genius!” Lance says, impressed.

“It's pretty fascinating, really.” Hunk says as he pulls out a sheet of paper, “The wavelength looks like this.” Keith snatches the paper from Hunk

“Give me that!” Keith says as he puts the line over a picture of a mountain ridge he has on the board. The lines matched up and the group gasps.

“Well, let’s move out.” Shiro says as we get ready to find out what’s out there.

(Time skip)

After walking to the mountain ridge, we ended up in a canyon crevice. Hunk and Pidge were leading the group, scanning for readings. Keith and Lance walked behind them, chatting, and you bring up the rear with Shiro. You were walking in comfortable silence with Shiro when he turns to you.

“So, Y/n, are you a doctor? I saw how you helped Hunk.” You smile at his compliment and slow down your walk.

“I’m a field medic.” You say as Shiro matches your pace.

“Why didn’t you want to work in a hospital?”

“Well, I didn’t want to be cooped up in a hospital, waiting for someone to come to me when I knew that I could be out in the field, helping people when they need it.” Shiro smiles at your statement.

“What about you? I know you were a pilot at the Garrison but what made you want to pursue that path?”

“Well, I always loved the idea of flying and being able to travel, and being a pilot helped me achieve that. Being I was able to achieve that and help people was a dream.” You can relate, wanting to help people, and see that Shiro is a good person.

“Going on the Kerberos mission,” he continues, “was a new experience for me and a chance to make new discoveries. I only wish Matt and Sam could’ve come home…” He looks down and slows to a stop. The others continue on and you stop in front of Shiro. You place a hand on his arm and try to meet his gaze.

“Hey…” you say, “It’s going to be okay. We’ll find them and bring them home. I know how hard this is for you and it’s too big a burden for one person to bear. Know you can come to anyone in the group to talk. Especially Keith. He looks up to you.” Shiro looks up at you, noticing your observation, and smiles. He takes a deep breath and nods ahead.

“We should catch up to the others.” You and Shiro continue walking to catch up to the group. “And Y/n,” he says, “thanks.” You smile.

“Anytime, Shiro.” When you and Shiro catch up to the group, you notice Hunk and Pidge looking over towards a cave on the side of the canyon.

“The energy is coming from there.” Pidge says, already walking towards the cave. You and the rest of the group follow and enter the cave. It seems to lead to nowhere but you see the walls littered with drawings. Everyone looks at the walls in amazement. After looking closer, you see the drawings are lions.

“Whoa.” Hunk says, walking around with Pidge.

“What are these?” Shiro asks.

“These are the lion carvings I was telling you about. They're everywhere around here.” You walk towards the wall and see one of the lions, cloaked with dust. Lance walks over beside you and wipes it away, revealing a lion. After wiping the dust away, the lion lights up blue, along with all the other drawings in the cave, and you and Lance step back, gasping.

“They've never done that before.” Keith says as the ground underneath us begins to shake. Then, out of nowhere, the ground collapses and you all begin falling down a path, lined with water. As the group screams and flies through the water, you come to the end of the path and you all fall into a small pond. The group groans and begins to stand up. You sit up and rub your neck, feeling it stinging. When you sit up, you and the rest of the group gasp, seeing a huge blue lion sitting at attention. It is surrounded by a force field and sits as if waiting for someone to discover it.

“They are everywhere.” Lance says, standing up. He offers you and hand and you take it, pulling yourself up. The group begins to make its way towards the lion.

“Hunk, your leg okay?” You ask, worried he could have injured it further in the fall. He stands on one leg and flexes his foot.

“Still sore but all good.” He says, giving you a thumbs up. You smile and continue on.

“Is this it? Is this the Voltron?” Pidge asks, eyeing the giant lion.

“It must be.” Shiro says, unsure.

“This is what's been causing all of this crazy energy out here.” Keith says, rushing ahead of the group.

“Looks like there's a force field around it.” He notes as Lance stares at the lion, uneasy.

“Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?” Lance asks the group.

“No.” Shiro responds.

“Yeah. The eyes are totally following me.” Lance says, staring at the lion. Keith made it to the force field and put his hands up against it. It glowed and rippled as he tried to look for a way to open it.

“I wonder how we get through this.” Keith says.

“Maybe you just have to knock.” Lance says, approaching the force field. He knocks twice on the force field and it chimes and lights up. Lance pulls his hand away, a blue light trailing from it. The lion’s eyes begin to glow and the blue light travels all around the group. Your vision goes black as images race through your head. A giant robot, six lions, and a feather. When your vision returns, you first see Lance, standing in front of you. Your head begins ringing as he talks to the group.

“Uh, did everyone just see that?” Lance asks, his voice sounding muffled.

“Voltron is a robot. Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot!” Hunk states, your vision beginning to blur.

“And this thing is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are.” Pidge says as the stab of pain goes through your head. You scream and fall to the ground, clutching your head.

“Y/n!” Lance says, turning around and trying to talk to you. The rest of the group tries to communicate with you but you can’t hear anything except an intense ringing. You reach out and grab someone’s hand, holding it tightly as the pain in your head increases. Your birthmark is flaring hot as if someone was holding hot iron on it. Just as you can’t take it anymore, you hear a voice, not from the group.

“Y/n, be safe.” It says before it and the ringing begins to fade. Your vision returns and you see everyone staring at you worried. You shake your head lightly and begin to stand, shaking a little. You finally see who’s hand you grabbed. It’s Lance’s and he doesn’t seem to be letting go anytime soon.

“Y/n, what was that? Are you okay?” Lance asks, worried.

“I don’t know,” you respond, “It must have been some freak migraine or something but I’m okay now.” You say, trying for your best smile. Lance and the others look worried but drop the subject, seeing you are looking better. Lance squeezes your hand one more time, letting you know he’s there for you, and then let’s go. Pidge walks over and gives you a hug.

“Don’t scare me like that.” She says, clutching you tight. You hug her back.

“Okay, Pidge. Didn’t mean to spook you.” She lets go and you turn your attention back to the lions. “You were saying something about the lions?” You ask her, trying to change the subject.

“Yeah, just, wondering where the rest of them are. And why is this one here in the first place."

“This is what they're looking for.” Shiro states, thinking back to the past.

“Incredible.” Keith says. The lion begins to bend down and open its mouth. It gets really close to the group and Hunk and Pidge scream as it opens its mouth fully. The mouth reveals a hallway, leading into the lion. Lance hums in wonder and begins to rush into the lion.

“Lance!” You say, running after him. You and Lance enter the lion and go up a spiral hallway, leading up into the lion. You come to a door that opens into a room. There is a chair at the end of the room, with monitors all around and a large black screen where the window would be. Lance walks towards the chair and sits down. The chair launches forward and puts him right up against the controls. He looks over the monitors, as they begin to light up and the black screen lights up, showing where the group was standing only moments ago. You notice the others have come up and are also looking around. You turn back to Lance, who is looking around the room in wonder.

“All right! Very nice!” Lance says, holding two handles that look like they drive the ship

“Okay, guys, I feel the need to point out, just so that we're all aware.” Hunk says, “We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now.” All of a sudden Lance gasps and looks forward in a trance as if he is seeing something. You hear a light ringing in your head and become worried about another episode. However, it’s gone almost as soon as it began and Lance suddenly turns to the group.

“Whoa. Did you guys just hear that?” Lance asks, looking around.

“Hear what?” Keith asks, having on heard anything. You decide not to mention the ringing, fearing the group will worry again. You look at Lance, who seems calm as she strokes the controls with his thumbs.

“I think it's talking to me.” Lance replies. Lance leans forward and presses a big button. The lion suddenly sits up and roars, shaking the cave. Hunk and Pidge scream but Lance look energized.

“Okay. Got it. Now, let's try this.” Lance says as he thrusts the two controllers forward, causing the lion to explode out of the cave. It zooms across the sky with amazing speed and Lance seems to struggle with the controls but looks thrilled.

“You are the worst pilot ever!” Keith yells as the lion shoots upward. Keith, not having a good grip on the chair, begins to fall backward. You lash out your hand and grab his, struggling to keep you and him from falling backward. Hunk tries to help but is trying to keep his stomach in check. Shiro hangs onto your arm and reaches for Keith but Pidge is getting in his way. She is trying to move out of the way but can’t without letting go. Lance doesn’t seem to realize the situation, only focused on the lion. Moving your left foot underneath Lance’s chair, you angle your right foot so Keith can use it to boost himself up

“Keith! Use my foot!” He sees what you are thinking and nods, using your foot to boost himself up and finally getting a good grip on the chair. You sigh in relief and see Lance still focused on the task.

“Lance!” Shiro yells, “Level out!” Lance shakes out of his trance, hearing Shiro’s strong voice, and levels out the lion. You finally can stand normally and Keith nods to you in thanks.

“Isn't this awesome?” Lance says, seeing to clouds race past the lion.

“Make it stop. Make it stop.” Hunk says, looking paler by the minute.

“I'm not making it do anything. It's like it's on autopilot.” The lion flies out of the Earth’s atmosphere and heads for the stars.

“Where are you going?” Keith asks in frustration. 

“I said it's on autopilot! It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we're supposed to stop it.” Lance says. You look at him in confusion.

“What did it say, exactly?” Pidge asks, also thinking the same thing.

“It's not like it's saying words.” Lance says, waving his hands, “It's more like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of.” Hunk is in thought and looks to the group.

“If this thing is the weapon they're coming for, why don't we just, I don't know, give it to them? Maybe they'll leave us alone. Sorry, lion. Nothing personal.” He looks upset to be saying it but you know he only wants to keep the group safe.

“You don't understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead.” Shiro says, silencing the room. Everyone looks to Hunk, who seems at a loss for words.

“Oh. Never mind then.” Hunk says, looking down. You place a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Hunk. We know what you meant.” You say as you look forward, out the window. You see the stars, shining bright but your view is soon ruined. You see a humungous ship fly from out of nowhere towards the lion. It’s big, black, and doesn’t look friendly.

“Uh Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?” Hunk says, his eyes widening in terror.

“They found me.” Shiro says softly.

“I’m guessing that’s the alien ship.” You say as the ship suddenly begins shooting at the lion. Red warnings flash on Lance’s screen as everyone tenses in panic.

“We've got to get it out of here!” Pidge yells to Lance.

“Hang on!” Lance replies as he pulls both the controllers backward, maneuvering the lion around the firing lasers.

“All right. Okay, I think I know what to do.” Lance says, seeming more confident about the controls.

“Be careful, man. This isn't a simulator.” Pidge says, remembering earlier that day. Lance laughs.

“Well, that's good. I always wreck the simulator.” You laugh at the comment and Lance thrusts his left hand forward. A beam of energy shoots out from the lion and hits the ship. You see part of the ship explodes when it comes in contact with the beam.

“Let's try this.” Lance says, pulling back both the controllers again. The lion shoots forward towards the ship the scrapes the side of it with its sharp claws. When the lion is away from the ship, the scrapes light up and explode, shaking the alien ship.

“Nice job, Lance.” Shiro praises, smiling.

“I think it's time to get these guys away from our planet.” Lance says, piloting the lion away from Earth. You see the ship begins turning to follow us and are worried they are going to start shooting. However, they just seem to be chasing the lion.

“Oh, no!” Hunk says, also looking back at the ship.

“They're gaining on us.” Pidge informs Lance.

“It's weird. They're not trying to shoot us. They're just chasing.” Lance says as if reading what you were thinking.

“I don’t think they want to destroy the lion, I think they want to capture it. But, who’s they and why do they want it in the first place?” You say to the group. Hunk still looks panicked.

“Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good? I am not on board with this new direction, guys.” He wrings his hands together and tries to control his breathing. You rush over to him and breathe with him. He remembers the lessons with you and gets his breathing back under control.

“Where are we?” Keith asks, breaking the silence. You look out the window and see a planet passing by quickly. Shiro gasps and looks like he had seen a ghost.

“Edge of the solar system. There's Kerberos.” Shiro says, not taking his eyes off it.

“It takes months for our ships to get out this far. We got out here in five seconds.” Pidge says, also looking to you. You shrug your shoulders, not knowing how the lion got out here so quickly. Just when nothing crazier could happen, something did. A large, blue, glowing portal opens up a bit away from the lion. It seems to radiate the same energy and color as the blue lion.

“What is that?” Hunk says, pointing at the portal.

“This may seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there.” Lance says to the group. You all go quiet.

“Where does it go?” Pidge asks nervously.

“I-I don't know.” Lance stutters before turning to Shiro, “Shiro, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?” We all look to Shiro who also seems conflicted about what to do.

“Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we're a team now. We should decide together.” The group looks at each other, nobody objecting to the idea. Pidge puts a hand on Lance’s shoulder and he takes a deep breath.

“All right. Guess we're all ditching class tomorrow.” Lance says as he pilots the lion into the portal and the unknown.

To be continued…


	2. Episode 1: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead, don't worry. Sorry that it took a while for this chapter! Finals are almost over and then I will hopefully be able to post more consistently!

The lion shakes and rumbles as we fly through the gate. The blinding light streams through the window and we all are tense, waiting for something to happen. Finally, we exit the gate and it closes behind us. Looking out, you can see the stars and planets. However, you can’t recognize any of them.  
“Whoa. That was…” Lance utters before Hunk lurches forward and throws up in one of the trash cans. We all shudder at the sound and Hunk catches his breath.  
“So sorry.” Hunk mutters, looking pale.  
“I'm just surprised it took this long.” Pidge says smugly, adjusting her glasses. You reach forward towards Hunk and rub his back.  
“Don’t apologize, Hunk.” You reach for your bag, remembering that you left it on Earth.  
“Looking for this?” You look to Pidge, who rummages through her pack and pulls out your bag. You smile and accept it.  
“Thanks, Pidge.” You say, looking for a bottle of water for Hunk. You find one and pass it to him. He laughs and accepts it.  
“Jeez, Y/n, you seem ready for anything!” Hunk drinks the water as Shiro begins pointing at the stars.  
“I don't recognize any of these constellations. We must be a long, long way from Earth.” Shiro says.  
“The lion seems to want to go to this planet. I think, I think it's going home.” Lance says as the lion speeds up towards a nearby planet. It looks similar to Earth and you can’t wait to see what the area looks like. As the clouds part, you see the ground and could almost swear we were on Earth. The cabin shakes as we all lean forward from the turbulence. Lance gets crushed from all of us leaning on him and tries to shake us off.  
“Guys, personal space. Hunk, your breath is killing me.” He says, glaring at Hunk.  
“Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole? Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?” Hunk replies.  
“It got us away from that alien warship, didn't it?” Lance says, raising his eyebrow.  
“I don't know if you noticed, but we're in an alien warship.” Keith says.  
“Oh, are you scared?” Lance replies smugly. He smiles, waiting for Keith’s reply.  
“With you at the helm?” Keith fires back, “Terrified.”  
“All right, knock it off.” Shiro says, raising his voice, “No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now. If we want to get through this, we've got to do it together.  
“So, what do we do?” Pidge asks, looking to Shiro.  
“First, we find out where we're headed. Lance?” We all look to Lance, who has gone quiet.  
“I don't know.” Lance says, looking at his feet. Shiro and Keith look at Lance in surprise.  
“I'm sorry.” Lance continues, “The lion's not talking to me anymore. Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Shh! Listen. I think I hear something.” Lance has a devious smile and looks up to something. You all listen and start to hear something.  
“I'm hearing it, too.” Keith says, looking around the cabin.  
“It's, uh-- It's kind of a-- a high-pitched squeal?” Hunk says, innocently as a foul odor meets your nose. You quickly cover your nose and mouth with your hands as the others follow suit. Lance laughs as the others yell at him. You smile, knowing the group needed a cheer up.  
“But seriously, there's a castle up ahead.” Lance says as the lion parts through the clouds. A beautiful castle comes into view, seeming to sparkle as the lion draws near. It is a massive castle, lined with gemstones and beautiful metals. Sections of the castle branch off across the small cliff it rests on. You can’t help but stare in wonder, the castle looking nothing like the buildings on Earth. The lion approaches the ground and sets down.  
Lance stretches out his arms forward as the light begins to fade from the lion. As the others begin filing out of the lion, you walk up to Lance, who hasn’t moved from his spot. His arms move to behind his head and he takes a deep breath.  
“You okay?” You ask, placing your hand on the back of the chair. He flinches, thinking everyone had left.  
“Uh, yeah, Y/n! Oh course I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?” Lance smiles and rubs the back of his neck. You sigh, seeing the front he’s putting up.  
“You’re doing great, Lance.” Lance gasps and looks to you.  
“Are you feeling okay?” You continue, “Did piloting the lion tire you out?” Lance smiles and stands up.  
“I’m doing okay, Y/n. Don’t worry about me. I should be asking you that.” Lance begins walking towards the exit and nods for you to follow. As you follow Lance down the spiral walkway, you remember back at the cave and the presence you felt in the lion. You don’t know what happened then and hope it doesn’t happen again. You don’t want to worry the team.  
“Yeah, I’m okay, Lance!” You say, bouncing forward in front of Lance. “Now, let’s go see outside!” You say, running forward. Lance grins and follows close. As you exit the lion, you see the group staring at the castle, marveling at the grounds and nature. However, Shiro seems tense. You walk over to him, Lance walking over near Hunk. You stand to the right of Shiro who scans the grounds nervously.  
“You okay, Shiro?” You ask, looking to him. He nods his head but still seems on guard.  
“Just keep your guard up.” Shiro says as Pidge walks to the left of Shiro.  
“Something wrong?” Pidge asks, glancing at Shiro.  
“My crew was captured by aliens once. I'm not going to let it happen again.” Shiro tells Pidge as the lion begins to move again.  
“No! I knew it was going to eat us! No!” Hunk says, covering his head. You move in front of Pidge and Shiro moves close to the two of you. We all tense up, waiting to see what the lion does. The lion stands on all fours and roars at the castle, causing a doorway to open up. Hunk looks to the lion, apologetic.  
“Oh, the door is open. Guess I was wrong about you.”  
“Well, let’s go.” Keith says as he starts walking towards the doorway. We follow him and enter a large room. It has many doorways that probably lead all over the castle. As the group looks around for something to happen, Hunk takes a chance.  
“Hello?” He says loudly, expecting a response. Nothing happens, however, and we keep moving further into the room. Pidge looks around the room and seems confused.  
“From the size of the lion, I expected these steps to be bigger.” She says.  
“Well, maybe we aren’t the only ones here.” Shiro says as we all reach the middle of the room. The floor around us lights up and I tense up as a blue light begins descending from the ceiling.  
An automated, female voice breaks the silence. “Hold for identity scan.” Shiro looks to the ceiling as the light moves over all of us before hitting the ground.  
“Why are we here? What do you want with us?” Shiro asks, clenching his hands tightly into fists. A ding is heard from the ceiling and the room begins to light up. You all see the beauty and size of the room as a corridor in the back of the room lights up.  
“I guess we're going that way.” Pidge says, gesturing towards the now lit up corridor.  
We begin walking towards the room and Pidge comes up behind you and stays close to your right shoulder, placing her hand on it. You begin to turn around before Hunk does the same thing on your left shoulder.  
“Guys.” You start, turning to both of them, “It’ll be okay.” You offer a bright smile and Hunk smiles back, taking his hand off of your shoulder but Pidge stays latched on. You pat her hand and continue on with the group.  
You begin to follow to lights on the sides of the hallway. They seem to light up as the group moves forward and Pidge becomes fascinated by the design of the hallway. Her hand leaves your shoulder to look closer at the designs but she still keeps close to the group.  
You smile at her curiosity and look over to the rest of the group. Hunk seems nervous but also is curiously looking at the designs with Pidge. Keith seems very on guard as Lance also seems to be.  
Lance makes eye contact with you and shoots you a quick wink before moving ahead of Keith. You blush lightly but keep moving forward.  
As the team begins to head downstairs, you begin to notice Shiro’s hands, which are clenched tightly by his sides.  
You walk up towards Shiro and gently grasp his hand, giving a gentle squeeze and smile as he gasps at the sudden contact but then seems to relax. You know that something happened to him up in space and know he would protect these near strangers with everything he had experienced. You wonder and hope the events of his past will ever fade into nothing more than a bad memory. Shiro’s hands relax and you move yours away, hoping he understood your message.  
Giant doors at the end of the hallway open up, revealing a large room. There are tall pillars surrounding the room with a smaller control counsel in the middle.  
“Where are we?” Lance says, entering the room with the others right on his heels.  
Pidge gravitates towards the counsel in the middle of the room while you notice the floor. There are circles lining the floor, about the width of a meter stick.  
“It's some kind of control room.” Pidge states. She moves closer to the box and it lights up with an unknown relic. The device activates and a pod begins to rise behind the team. You all shift back and see the pod steaming, the glass front revealing an outline of a person inside. Hunk hides behind the counsel Pidge was looking at while Lance moves closer, interested about who or what is inside. Another pod rises to the right of the other one. They both seem to be holding people inside, yet you can’t completely see them.  
“Are these guys dead?” Hunk questions. No one seems to have the answer as the first pod that rose begins to light up and shimmer to reveal a woman.  
She is tall and wearing a regal white dress. Her long white hair cascades behind her as her elven ears are clearly shown. One thing is for sure. She is beautiful. She seems to realize she is awake and reaches forward, trying to grasp something.  
“Father!” The women lurches forward and begins to fall. Lance quickly moves to catch her as she struggles to stand. She gets close to Lance and looks inquisitively at him. Lance puts on his best face and smiles as he looks down at the women.  
“Hello.” Lance waits for a reaction but the woman just seems to be confused.  
“Who are you? Where am I?” She looks to the rest of the group as Lance smiles.  
“I'm Lance. And you're right here in my arms.”  
“Your ears…”  
“Yeah?” Lance says, looking at them nervously.  
“They're hideous. What's wrong with them?” The women bluntly responds as she moves away. Lance glares angrily at the women who insulted his ears while you stifle a giggle.  
“Nothing's wrong with them! They heard exactly what you said about them!” The women glares back at Lance as she grabs his ear and puts him into a headlock. All of us take a step back and Shiro steps into a fighting stance, looking on guard.  
“Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?”  
“A giant blue lion brought us here. That's all we know!” The woman drops Lance on the ground as she looks around terrified.  
“How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless -How long has it been?” Shiro begins to relax, realizing how freaked out the women is and begins moving towards her before stopping.  
“We don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help.” The woman shakes her head before standing up straight and looking at the group with confidence.  
“I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea. I've got to find out where we are and how long we've been asleep.” Allura moves towards the counsel Pidge was standing near and places both of her hands on it, waking up the machine.  
“Okay, that's how that works.” Pidge says as she overlooks Allura tinkering with the counsel. While Allura silently works on the counsel, another pod behind Hunk opens up and reveals an older man in the same type of clothes as Allura. He looks a bit older than Allura and dawns a glorious orange mustache. He wakes up quickly and looks on guard at the amount of people surrounding him.  
“Enemy combatants!” The man jumps out of the pod but his legs collapse underneath him. He tries to balance himself as Lance moved closer to the new person.  
“Quiznak!” he said, “You're lucky I have a case of the old sleep chamber knees. Otherwise, I'd grab your head like this,” he said wringing his hands and snapping, “wrap you up like so and-- One, two, three-- Sleepy time!” Lance looked unimpressed as he rolls his eyes.  
“Well, before you did that,” Lance said, “I’d ha, ha, ha!” Lance jumps around while throwing karate moves.  
“Like that.” He finishes, crossing him arms.  
“Really? How could you do that when I've already come at you with this?” The man again throws a weird strike in Lance’s direction but keeps his distance.  
“Yeah, well, we have a Y/n.” Lance says, pointing to you. The man looks over and gets into a defensive position before you throw up your hands in alarm.  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Friendlies here. Not going to attack you.” You glare angrily at Lance who has a malicious look on his face. Hunk walks over by you, nervous about the new guy.  
“Man, these guys are good.” He says before the princess gasps.  
“It can't be.” The man who came out of the pod instantly looks worried and begins walking towards Allura.  
“What is it?”  
“We've been asleep for 10,000 years. Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization.” Allura looks torn as she thinks about everything she has missed until her eyes narrow and she mutters one name.  
“Zarkon…” Shiro looks shocked at hearing the name.  
“Zarkon?” Allura turns to Shiro before regaining her confidence and speaking to the group.  
“He was the King of the Galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people.” Shiro nods but looks at his feet.  
“I remember now… I was his prisoner.” Allura looks unhappily surprised.  
“He's still alive? Impossible!”  
“I can't explain it, but it's true. He's searching for a super weapon called Voltron.”  
“He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does.” Allura looks to the group but looks stressed from everything that’s she has found out in the last couple minutes.  
You look at the rest of the group. Lance and Keith both seem tired while Hunk seems extremely nervous. Glancing at Pidge and Shiro, you can see that they are both also scared and tired from the trip. And even though they don’t show it as much, you know that Coran and Allura must be overwhelmed with everything. You walk over to the princess and step in front of her, not wanting to intrude her space but letting her know you are being serious.  
“Princess, we will help you but not yet.” She whirls around to you, fire burning in her eyes before you keep talking.  
“You need to rest.” You communicate this by looking into her eyes, which seem to calm her down. She lets out a shaky breath and offers you a weak smile.  
“Thank you. That is probably the best decision.” She turns to the rest of the group. “Please, relax. All of you.” With that statement, everyone collapses to the ground in a tight circle. You, Coran, and Allura join the circle.  
“You know,” Shiro says, smiling, “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced.” Allura looks to the group before gesturing to herself.  
“My name is Princess Allura of the Planet Altea.”  
“My name is Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe, advisor to Princess Allura!” We all look at Coran with a nervous gaze, wondering how to remember such a long name, when he glances at everyone, rubbing the back of his neck. “But my friends call me Coran.” We all relax before continuing on with introductions around the circle.  
“Shiro.”  
“The name’s Lance.”  
“Keith.”  
“Y/n.”  
“I’m Pidge.”  
“Hi. I’m Hunk!”  
After the introductions are done, Allura begins striking up a conversation with the group. She starts talking about her family and Altea but your vision suddenly begin to blur. The ringing in your ears is coming back and it’s hard to see straight. The pain you felt before, when we found the Blue Lion, is back and concentrated along your back for some reason. You close your eyes through the pain and try not to draw attention to yourself, not wanting the others to worry. You clench your hands at your sides and focus on your breathing. After a few deep breaths, your vision begins to clear, the pain slowly fades, and you can hear Allura talking again. Coran glances over at you before gesturing for you to stand.  
“Umm, Y/n, can you come help me really quick please?” You look over to see Coran standing up and beckoning you to the hallway. You slowly stand up, regaining your balance, and walk with Coran. Pidge shoots you a glance but, otherwise, everyone else seems focused on Allura talking about her homeland. I exit the room, with Coran, and as soon as the door closes, he whips his head to you.  
“Are you alright?” He looks worried, his eyes nervously glancing at you. You know he must have saw you when you were sitting in the group.  
“What do you mean Coran?” You say as your vision begins to shake again. “I’m fin-” You never finish your sentence as a wave of nausea washes over you and you begin to fall to the ground. Coran is quick to react and leans you up against the wall of the hallway, placing a hand gently on your shoulder.  
“Breathe Y/n.” He takes deep breaths in front of you, gesturing with his hands for you to do the same. You copy his movements and the blurry vision fades away. You slowly slide down the wall, sitting and wrapping your arms around your knees. Coran slumps down in front of you as he realizes you are doing better.  
“That’s what I mean.” You look down at the ground, not knowing what to say. “How long has this been going on? Do you know what it is?” He looks at you, trying to reach your gaze.  
“I don’t know Coran,” you say, your voice slightly shaking, “I don’t know what’s going on with me but, ever since with found that lion, I had migraines and pain all over my body.” He looked confused as why this was happening. He thinks for a minute, leaving you both in silence.  
“And,” He said, “I’m guessing you don’t want the others to know?” Your eyes widen as you look at Coran and gently grasp his arm.  
“Please don’t tell them. They’re already trying to deal with being shot into outer space. I don’t know what this is and don’t want to worry them before I know.” Coran looks to the ground, taking a deep breath before gently shaking his head up and down.  
“Okay.” He helps you to your feet and looks you in the eyes. “But promise me this, Y/n. Once you figure out what is going on, tell them. You are a team now and they will be there for you, no matter what happens.” His eyes tell you that he won’t let you go back in without an answer.  
“I promise, Coran.”  
He smiles before leading you back to the other room, seeing the others laughing as Lance tells some elaborate story. Allura glances at you and Coran as you come back in. She stands up and the others follow suit.  
“Is everything alright?” Allura asks, looking to Coran. He flashes his signature smile at Allura.  
“Of course, Allura! Y/n just helped me get some of the power running back around the castle!”  
“Good. Now we can start searching for Zarkon.” Allura walks over to the control panel and begins looking over data in a different language. Coran pulls out a tablet from the counsel and types in a few controls before a hovering plate of food arrives in the room. It is green and almost looks like porridge but you don’t recognize it as something from Earth.  
“Princess, you must eat. It's been 10,000 years.” Coran looks to Allura, worried.  
“I'm not hungry.”  
“Man, 10,000 years?” Lance asks, “That's like one thousand plus ten.” Keith glances at Lance, looking confused.  
“That's times ten.”  
“Whatever, dropout.” Lance and Keith glare at each other and you roll your eyes, happy they still have their humor. Hunk looks at the hovering plate of food in the air and you can hear his stomach growl.  
“I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm starving.” Pidge laughs lightly under her breath before turning to Hunk.  
“Yeah, but you've thrown up, like, five times.” Hunk nods his head in a silent agreement.  
“You should eat, Hunk.” You say.  
“Hmm, good point.” Hunk reaches over and grabs a handful of the green food goo and shoves it in his mouth. He shudders at the substance but continues eating, getting used to the flavor.  
“I can't believe your civilization created such advanced technology 10,000 years ago.” Shiro says, marveling the technology, “It must have been an incredible place.” Allura smiles at the compliment but her face turns sad.  
“Yes, it was but now it is gone and we're the last Alteans alive.” Allura turns to Coran and gives him a hug, comforting in his embrace. As you stand back with the rest of the group, you feel that you really can see who Coran is. The way he was ready to defend Allura from strangers, the way he saw your internal struggle, and the way he comforts Allura in her grief. You know that in Allura’s eyes, he is much more than an advisor. Allura suddenly gasps as she looks back to the pod she came out of. She rushes over and smiles, her eyes glassy with light tears.  
“Looks like we're not the last, after all.” Inside the pod are four mice of various colors and sizes that look up at Allura. However, they shake in fear as the alarms on the control panel blast across the room. Coran gasps as a screen pops up, showing a huge ship that looks similar to the one that chased us before.  
“A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us!” Coran looks down in worry as Allura walks up behind him.  
“How did they find us?” Lance rolls his eyes before eyeing Keith.  
“I'm not sure, but I bet it's Keith's fault.”  
“Say whatever you've got to say to make yourself feel better,” Keith responds, glaring at Lance, “After getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!” Lance gets in Keith’s face, his voice raising.  
“I'll stick you in a wormhole!” Shiro comes over and moves between the two.  
“Stow it, cadets! This is no time to place blame. It's time to work as a team!” Lance raises his arms at Keith, who makes no move to challenge Lance. Shiro sighs before continuing.  
“How long before they arrive?”  
“At their speed,” Coran asks, “Oh, well, carry the two. I'd say probably a couple of days.” Allura looks to the group, a determined smile gracing her face.  
“Good. Let them come! By the time they get here, you six will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire!” Allura looks to the group. Everyone, except Hunk, who is still licking his fingers from the food goo, looks ready. Hunk lets a huge burp and blushes heavily as all eyes turn to him.  
“Sorry,” Hunk apologizes, “Food goo.”  
“Princess, there are six of these lions,” Shiro asks, “How are we going to find the rest?” Allura simply smiles before beginning to walk out of the room.  
“With me.” She smiles before waving for the group to follow. She halts before quickly turning around to the pod she was originally in. She lets the four mice climb onto her hands and they run up to her shoulders, sitting patiently. She blushes lightly as everyone is watching her, but then gestures for the group to follow her.  
“Follow me.”  
Allura leads the group down a couple hallways before finally approaching a room. She holds her hand up to a control panel and unlocks the door. The door opens, revealing a huge room with a podium in the middle and chairs with counsels surrounding it. There is a window that looks out on the galaxy and a huge system of lights that cover the ceiling. Allura sets the mice down on one of the chairs before wordlessly walking up to the podium and standing upon it. As she closes her eyes, the lights on the ceiling come to life and a blue light is cast down upon her.  
“King Alfor connected the lions to Allura's life force,” Coran explains to the group, “She alone is the key to the lions' whereabouts.”  
Allura finally opens her eyes and the lights spread all across the room, revealing a wide variety of stars and planets. Everyone looks in awe at the lights as Pidge speaks up.  
“These are coordinates. The Black Lion and White Lion look like they’re in the same location as the Blue Lion.” A screen of the Black lion, White, and Blue lion moves past Pidge as Coran looks at her surprised.  
“Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage.”  
“Very observant,” Allura comments, “That's because the Black and White Lions are in the castle.”  
“To keep the Lions out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked them in the castle. They can only be freed if the other four lions are present.” Coran says. You smile as you move to stand in between Pidge and Shiro.  
“So, I guess that’s where we come in.” You comment, smiling, as Allura looks to you and smiles back.  
“That’s correct. As you have found, the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in their lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain.” Allura swipes at the stars and they move with her. The black lion moves in front of Shiro and he stares at it in awe.  
“The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron,” Allura continues, “It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion.” Shiro looks to the Princess and nods respectively. You nudge Shiro and shoot him a smile. He returns it and we look back to Allura. She swipes the stars again and the Green Lion appears, moving towards Pidge.  
“The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion.” She looks at the lion nervously and you reach down to her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. She turns to you, takes a breath, and returns the gesture. She looks to Allura, nodding for her to continue.  
“The Blue Lion…” Allura starts before Lance interrupts, putting a hand across his face in a smug manner.  
“Hold up, let me guess. Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?” You swear his teeth sparkle as Allura looks, unamused, at Lance. She rolls her eyes and continues on, not bothering to continue with her explanation. She swipes again at the galaxy and the Yellow Lion moves in front of Hunk.  
“The Yellow Lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is someone who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together.”  
Hunk looks nervously at the Princess, pointing to him in confusion. You laugh softly, knowing he’ll be fine. Allura holds out her hand and a white lion appears in it. The lion begins slowly floating towards you as you gasp. “The White Lion,” Allura says, “is fierce and strong. Its pilot needs to be someone strong of heart and willing to support their team. It, like the Black Lion, puts others before themselves and works to keep the team safe and together. That is why Y/n, you will pilot the White Lion.” You smile at the Princess as Shiro places a hand on your shoulder, silently congratulating you. Pidge takes a different approach and jumps on your back, hugging you from behind. You wobble slightly before rubbing her head and putting her back down. Allura softly laughs at this interaction and holds out her hands one last time.  
She swipes the stars another time, the Red Lion appearing in her hands before floating in front of Keith. You notice his arms shaking a little as he realizes what’s going to happen. He crosses his arms to steady them but not before you notice.  
“The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion.” He nods stiffly at Allura while Lance looks over to Keith.  
“What? This guy?” Allura rolls her eyes, again, before continuing.  
“Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After 10,000 years, it might need some work.” She smiles softly.  
Suddenly, you begin to feel very dizzy, your eyes starting to go black. You try to ground yourself and focus on the conversation but it gets harder and harder.  
“Don't worry, we'll find it soon. They don't call me ‘The Coranic’ for nothing. It's because it sounds like ‘mechanic.’ So, Coranic, mechanic. It’s not-- It doesn't sound exactly like it. It's similar.” Coran looks down before glancing at you. His eyes crease in worry and he is about to say something before Allura continues talking.  
“Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe.” Coran begins to walk towards you, earning a weird look from Allura, who looks to Lance and Hunk, who haven’t noticed what’s going on.  
“Awesome!” Lance jumps up and Hunk looks down in thought.  
“Oh Wait. Okay, we're going to be in there and flying lions. Got that part. How do lions turn into legs? Is this going to be a long trip? I have to pee. Do you people pee?” Hunks comment goes unnoticed by the group as Coran finally reaches you and looks at you.  
“Y/n? Are you okay?” You shake your head in agreement, not wanting the group to worry. You already have seen the group worried about the road ahead. Pidge’s nervous looks, Hunk’s uncertainty, even Keith’s fear is clearly seen. You don’t need another thing for them to worry about. You try to focus your breathing and find your balance but you begin to shake as darkness overtakes your vision.  
Shiro reaches out a hand to steady you and looks worried as well, the rest of the group beginning to see something is wrong. Just when you were about to pass out, a wave of pain spreads across your back, causing you to yell out before you pitch forward into black.

I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defenders or its characters. This is a reader insert story based on the events in the tv series.  
Y/n= Your name  
L/n= Last name  
""=dialogue  
''=Thoughts


	3. Episode 1: Part 3

Keith's POV  
"Y/N!" You look over to see Shiro yelling as Y/n falls forward into Coran's arms. You rush over with the others and form a circle over Coran who is holding onto Y/n. Allura sits next to Coran, feeling Y/n's forehead as Lance stands next to Hunk, looking worried.  
"Is she going to be okay?!" Lance says, holding onto the edge of Hunk's T-shirt. Hunk places a hand on Lance's shoulder, comforting him.  
"What happened?!" Pidge yells as he tries to get past Hunk. He finally manages to squeeze past him and holds Y/n's hand, trying to wake her up. Shiro glances down at the ground.  
"I don't know what's going on. At first, she was fine. But then she started shaking and collapsed." You shake your head, wondering why this was happening to Y/n in the first place. She's been so helpful to everyone and she's part of the team. You don't want anything to happen to her. Then you remember Coran noticing Y/n first.  
"Coran," you say, "do you know what's going on? You seemed to notice Y/n first." Coran looks to the ground, deep in thought. He then takes a deep breath, clicks a few things on his wristwatch, and summons a hover bed into the control room. He stands up, placing Y/n gently on the bed. She hasn't woken up yet and still seems to be in pain. Coran holds the edge of the bed before turning to the group.  
"This isn't my place to tell but being Y/n can't tell you, I will. Do you remember how Y/n almost passed out when you all encountered the Blue Lion for the first time?" Shiro's eyebrows raise at Coran.  
"How did you know about that, Coran?"  
"Well," Coran begins, rubbing the back of his neck, "when I called Y/n out earlier to ask for help with powering up the castle, that wasn't the reason I called her out. She looked in pain and I confronted her outside, away from you all. She didn't want you all worrying about her and asked me to wait to tell you until we figured out what was going on. I'm sorry I didn't say anything but I wanted to respect her wishes." The group goes silent, wondering how they didn't see her hurting.  
"I should've been there..." Lance says quietly.  
"How did I not see this?" Pidge says, holding Y/n's hand tightly.  
"I knew we shouldn't have brushed off her incident with the Blue Lion like we did," Shiro says, looking ashamed, "but she's part of the team. Heck, how can I lead this team when I didn't even realize that one of the members was in pain?"  
"NO," Allura says, her voice echoing across the room, "You have not failed her. None of you have. You didn't know what was going on and you will help your friend. We can still help her. I can see your connection with each other. It's strong and cannot be broken that easy." Allura places a hand on Pidge's shoulder, hoping her words reached through. Pidge nods his head and looks at her.  
"So, what do we do?" Allura clasps her hands together.  
"We can put her in a healing pod for now while you all go and find the rest of your lions. Coran and I will take care of her until you get back." I finally step forward towards Allura.  
"I'll help too. We don't know where Red is yet so, I'll make myself useful here." Shiro smiles over at me, looking happy to know I'm trying to connect with the team. He takes a look at the others and stands tall.  
"We don't have much time. Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one. Keith, you stay here and help out. If you locate that Red Lion, go get it." Allura begins walking up towards her podium.  
"In the meantime, I'll get this castle's defenses ready after tending to Y/n. They'll be sorely needed. I've set up a pod and loaded the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion." Coran looks at Y/n and begins to move the bed.  
"I'll watch over Y/n for now and get her into a pod." I walk over to Coran and help him push the bed. The others go their separate ways to get their lions and Coran and I walk down several hallways to get back to the pods. As we walk, I begin thinking about what could've happened to Y/n. 'I don't think it was shock or injury but she did seem in pain and she still does now. If it's not an injury will being in the pod even help? What if it makes it worse? What if...What if she dies?' My thoughts begin racing, seeming to become darker with even worse scenarios before Coran shakes me away from them.  
"She'll be okay, Keith." You glance at Coran quickly; surprised that he read your thoughts so easily. He looks concerned about Y/n but you appreciate his sentiment. You smile slightly at him before a distant memory of your father flashes across your mind and you look down at the floor.  
"I've just..." You struggle to get the words out but feel at ease with Coran. You take a breath, focusing on your words before continuing.  
"I've lost too many people already. I don't really know Y/n but she's part of the team. She doesn't deserve this." Coran shakes his head in agreement, slowing his pace and pushing the bed slower as he thinks.  
"I understand, Keith. I've seen too many wars and lost many people as well. It's hard every time it happens but sometimes it's out of your control." My hands grip the bed a little tighter as he says that and before I can say anything, he continues.  
"However, you have to keep fighting. Understanding the people in your life and being there for them when you can is important. It's not Y/n's time yet and I promise, Keith, I will do everything in my power to help her."  
I gasp slightly at Coran, surprised how he cares so much for us already and how he is willing to be there for us in such a caring way.  
"Thank you, Coran." He simply smiles in response and quickens his pace, the thudding of our footsteps filling the silence. We finally make it back to the room with the healing pods and move the bed over to a pod. We place her in the pod and stand back as the door closes. She looks in pain as she stands and I wonder if the pod is working.   
"Oh, Coran, didn't you have to set up the castle defense system? I can stay and watch Y/n if you need to go." Coran raises his eyes, remembering, as he walks over to the control counsel in the pod room.  
"Thank you for reminding me, Keith, and no need for me to leave! I can do it from here."  
Coran places his hands on top of the counsel as Allura did earlier, and it lights up. It shows a large map of what you assume to be the castle. There are energy bars on the side and areas that are highlighted with others that are dark. Coran begins moving the energy bars up and pressing areas of the castle, making the dark area's light. Altean text travels across the screen and he works and you can't help but marvel at the foreign language.  
"How come you don't speak Altean, Coran?" Your curiosity slips out, breaking the quiet atmosphere. Coran stops his work and glances at you, surprised, but smiles before continuing to work.   
"Well, I can and do sometimes speak Altean but also speak many other languages. As advisor to the Princess, I have to be well versed in several different alien languages for communication. English is actually one of the main languages spoken on Altea... Or at least was." Coran grimaces at the thought of Altea, knowing his home is gone. I instantly feel horrible that I brought that memory back up to him.  
"Sorry, Coran. I didn't mean to make you upset."   
'Nice job, Keith. You ruined the one-shot you had.' Before you can belittle yourself further, Coran releases a deep exhale.  
"Nonsense, my boy. You were curious and I won't punish a curious mind seeking knowledge. It is true Altea is gone but sharing memories of it makes me appreciate the time I had there. Thank you for your sentiment. I can teach you, if you'd like." Coran looks back to the counsel, almost done, as you stare at him in shock.  
'He wasn't mad? Wow.' You smile lightly to yourself, a new respect for Coran forming.   
"Thank you, Coran. And yes. I would love to learn." Coran gives a kind smile to be before clicking a few more areas of the castle.   
He finishes up power up the defenses with a flourish and steps back, clapping his hands together in intimidation of Allura.   
"Alrighty then! Batten down the hatches because this ship is ready for battle." You laugh at Coran, giving a half hearty salute to him.  
"Aye aye, captain." He power poses confidently, appreciative of your comment before the door we came through opens, revealing Allura.  
She looks exhausted and is breathing heavily. Coran briskly walks over and checks on her, holding out an arm to steady her. I walk back over near Y/n's pod and listen to their conversation.  
"Are you alright, Princess?" Allura nods.  
"Of course, Coran. Just used a little reserve energy so the castle could repower up by itself and I could come to check in on you all." Coran looks worried as Allura begins walking towards the pod.  
"You must be careful, Princess. Overextending yourself could-"  
"Be dangerous," Allura interrupts, "I know, Coran. I'll be careful." She stops by me and looks at the pod.  
"Anything yet?" She asks as I shake my head, turning to look at Y/n.  
"She looks like she's in pain. Isn't the pod supposed to be healing her?" Allura nods her head.  
"Yes, but there could be nothing the pod could heal as well." My eyebrows furrow in confusion and before I can ask more about what Allura means, the pod opens and Y/n falls out.

Y/n POV  
I feel a rush of cold air as a screen of glass slides away and I fall forward. Allura catches me in her arms and balances me as I find my footing. I think that I'm okay but am proven wrong as the back of my neck flares burning hot again. I fall to the floor and scream in pain as I clutch the back of my head.  
"Y/N!" Coran, Allura, and Keith yell as they surround me. I clutch Allura's hand as the pain spreads to my back. I've never felt anything like this before. Sure, there were times when I went too far during training and felt like I got hit by a truck but this was completely different. It felt like my entire body was burning from the inside out and I can't hear anyone talking.  
I try and open my eyes through the pain and see Allura trying to talk to me, Keith with his hand on my shoulder, shaking it while also trying to talk to me, and Coran right behind him, running a nervous hand through his hair.  
I breathe heavily as the pain grows until finally, just when I can't take any more, I feel two separate things tear out of my back. The pain in my neck slightly fades and my back now feels very heavy and sore. It feels like I just ran a death marathon and I drop to the floor on my stomach, groaning.  
"Y/n!" Allura says, placing a hand on my shoulder. I instantly flinch at her touch, pain spreading through my shoulder from her contact. She pulls her hand away quickly, noticing my reaction.  
"Whoa..." I glance up at Keith, who is staring at my back with wide eyes. His mouth is slightly open in awe at something behind me and he glances at Allura and Coran nervously. They both wear similar expressions and are at a loss for words. My neck is too sore to turn it and I want to know what's wrong. It feels like someone is sitting on my back as I lay on the floor, trying to catch my breath. I shakily attempt to stand up and all three of them flock to me, holding me steady as I still can't find my balance.  
"Hey, Hey, Hey, take it easy." Keith looks worried at me as he supports my right side. I find myself leaning heavily on him.  
"Okay, what is wrong? You all look like you've seen a ghost." I question them but they all seem at a loss.  
"We should put her back into the pod." Allura says, taking my left shoulder and leading me back towards the pod. I panic as she says that and feel something dragging behind me on the ground. I stop in my place, moving away from the pod slowly.  
"Please no. I hate... I hate small spaces. What's wrong?" I try and keep my balance alone but Keith moves back towards me and places my arm around his shoulder silently. Even though my back does still hurt, I need answers. I emphasize my words, hoping one of the three will answer me. Coran walks to the edge of the room and opens a door to a side room, which I see to be a large bathroom.  
"Y/n, come over here." I slowly move forward, Allura behind me and Keith still supporting me as I walk into the bathroom. I still feel something dragging behind me as we enter the bathroom. My back continues to throb in pain as we move into the room. It is quite large with mirrors on both sides of the walls. Coran points to the mirror and gestures to my back.  
"See for yourself." I look at the mirror and, in my reflection, see what was on my back. Two large wings. Two actual wings growing from my back. There is blood dripping from beneath my shirt and all over the wings but I see their beauty. They are large and white, looking like they would stretch much farther than my arm span. I then notice that along the edges of the wings, there are four different stripes of colors, stretching in four long lines along the edge. I immediately recognize the paladins' colors striped along the feathers of the wings.  
I see a pair of Altean scissors on the counter near the sink and snatch them up and begin cutting off my shirt. I tear off the fabric and stand looking in the mirror, panting in my sports bra as I look closely at the base of the wings on my back. I stand wordless, looking at them as the others also look dumbstruck for words. I take a deep breath and try to move the wings. They feel sore and stiff and I only can manage to shift them off the floor. However, it hurts immensely to do anything with them. My hands shake as I do and Coran reaches forward and grabs one of them, holding it tight.  
"Don't try to move them too much." I nod my head before turning to him, relaxing the wings.  
"What the heck is going on?" He shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head, obviously not knowing. Allura reaches over behind Keith and pulls out some towels.  
"How about we get you cleaned up?" I nod my head as she makes her way to the sink, soaking some of the towels in the water while leaving some dry. As she does, Keith moves in front of me, looking into my eyes worried.  
"Do you feel okay?" I nod my head side to side, not really dying of pain but not comfortable either. Most of the major burning pain from before is gone but it still hurt tremendously to move my back. Coran doesn't move from in front of me, still holding my hand in support.  
"Not one of my best days. But right now, I'm just really confused." I flash him a worried smile as Allura walks over to him and hands him the dry towels.  
"Are you alright with this?" I nod and she begins to clean my wings, soaking them gently and trying to get the blood off of them. I flinch at first when Allura makes contact with them, pain shooting down from the wings, but then relax as the pain fades into a soreness. Allura does her best to be gentle as Keith stands behind her and dries the wings after she cleans them. It's weird being able to feel this new part of my body. Coran gives my hand one last squeeze as my back is getting cleaned and he lets go before jumping up to sit on the counter, holding his chin in his hand and staring at the floor in thought.  
"I have a theory. I think that this may be related to a type of alien species." He glances at me and I nod for him to continue explaining.  
"They were a group called the Avies. They were a peaceful race of bird-like people that lived on secluded planets, away from others. They were supposedly very friendly and talented people but just kept to themselves for safety. I actually recall meeting an Avie scientist while on Altea. She was very kind and helped King Alfor with the communications operations around the galaxy. I don't mean to imply but your wings suggest that you may be a..." Coran hesitated, almost nervous about the next word so I said it for him.  
"Alien. It would be that I'm an Avie." Coran looks surprised and I feel both Allura and Keith stop cleaning for a moment before continuing.  
"And you're not shocked? Not even a little?!" Coran looks a little surprised as he slides off the counter, talking with his hands. I shrug my shoulders, thinking about the last couple of hours.  
"Coran, I've found and flown in a giant blue lion, got shot into space with my classmates, almost was killed by weird purple evil galra, and now have wings. I don't think there's much left that could surprise me today. Sure, I never thought my parents could've been aliens but it doesn't change who I am." Coran lefts out a sigh of relief and I feel Allura and Keith finish.  
"That should be good for now but I'll find a better way to help you clean your wings later. The castle is equipped to handle all different races and I'm sure I can implement a new program into your bathroom to clean your wings."  
"Thank you, Allura." I take a deep breath and wonder how I'm going to deal with my wings right now being I can barely lift them. The pain isn't really helping with everything going on right now either.  
'Sarcasm later, Y/n.' You think, shaking out of your thoughts. Coran seems to have already found a solution as I see him rummaging through a closet I didn't see before. He pulls out a short sleeve black shirt with silver edges and looks at the tag.  
"Found it!" He throws the shirt over to me and smiles.  
"That shirt is made specifically for Avies. It will help keep your wings tightly secured to your back until you get used to them." I look to Allura and she looks at me with an 'I told you so' look, confirming her words about the castle being prepared for any race.   
I slip the shirt over my head and feel the shirt adjust to my body, pulling my wings tightly against my back. I flinch at the sudden movement and grab the counter for support, counting in my head and breathing before the shirt stops moving my wings. I look in the mirror again and can't even really see the bulge of the wings. I run my hand along the back of my neck, my birthmark still stinging when Coran notices.  
"Y/n, are you still injured?" I turn my back to Coran, after shaking my head no, and show him my neck and the birthmark I was rubbing.  
"My birthmark. It started burning before and still stings a bit." Coran looks closely at it as Allura and Keith also steal a glance at it. I turn back to Coran, who again seems at a loss.  
"They almost look,"  
"Like wings." you interrupt, "I know. Pidge always said they did. Do you think they're connected?"  
"I'm not sure. I'm sure they must be tied to your wings in some way. I can look more into it later."  
"Thank you, Coran. And thank you, Keith." I turn to Keith, who gives a nod, and Coran who gives me a big grin.  
"Of course!" I feel like myself again but then realize the rest of the team will be back soon. My smile disappears as I think about how I'm supposed to tell them. Allura seems to sense my worry and pulls me in for a gentle hug.  
"You shouldn't worry about the rest of your team. Tell them when you're ready." I am shocked by the sudden display of affection from Allura, as it seems that she was keeping her distance from you and the others, but return her hug and release her after a couple of seconds.  
"Thank you, Allura." Allura claps her hands before opening the door.  
"That being said," She says, walking back across the room towards the hallway, "let's check on the others shall we?"  
It took a while for me to get to the control room, with the need added weight of my wings and the soreness from getting them, but we eventually get there and wait for the others. I do some light stretches with Keith and feel a lot better from them.   
I'm still feeling sorer than I've ever been but it's at least a bit more tolerable now. Allura finally closes the portals and both the Green, Yellow, and Blue Lions all exit from it. I stand next to Keith near the back of the room while Coran stands near Allura, who is getting off the platform.  
"Well, some rest is defiantly going to be nice after today."  
"Wait a minute," Keith says, smiling and crossing his arms, "I thought you already slept for 10,000 years..." Allura laughs and shakes her head, realizing Keith's joke. You smile and shake your head, feeling like you're seeing the real Keith before Shiro and Pidge walk into the room. They don't notice you and Keith standing in the back of the room and beeline for Allura. Allura smiles brightly at Pidge, who taps her foot anxiously.  
"I'm so glad you were able to find the Green Lion. It has a worthy paladin." Pidge smiles slightly but looks at Allura worried.  
"Is Y/n okay? Is she up yet? Did you figure out what happened?" You smile as your sister worries over you and step towards her and Shiro.  
"Well, for your information," You say as Pidge whirls around to see you, "you can't rid of me that easily, no matter how annoying I am." Pidge rushes over to you and pulls you into a tight hug, grasping the back of your shirt tightly as she softly starts crying. You flinch slightly from pain but return her hug, not wanting her to worry.  
"Hey," you continue, rubbing her head, "I'm okay. We were just waiting for you fools to get back. I'm surprised you were tall enough to reach the pedals in your lion, short stack." She laughs slightly at the nickname and looks up to you, wiping away her tears.  
"Hey, you're not that much taller so be quiet." I grin superiorly and place an elbow on her head. She smiles and knocks it off, taking a couple more deep breaths.  
"Seriously," Pidge says, "I'm happy you're okay." You return a smile as she steps away.  
"Me too." I look over to Shiro, who is also smiling. He walks over to me and Pidge and comes to a halt in front of us, scratching the back of his neck nervously.  
"I'm uhh glad that you're alright." I glance at Shiro, noticing how worried he really was, and open my arms in a kind gesture.  
"I don't bite." I smile slightly as Shiro glances at me before rushing forward to give me a hug. He takes a shaky breath as I rub his back and gives me one final squeeze before stepping away.  
"Sorry." He says, stepping back quickly. You drop your smile and shake your head and look him directly in the eye.  
"Don't apologize. You were worried and asking for a hug is nothing to be ashamed of. Thank you." You put your voice into your words and he understands, nodding his head softly. You look over to see Allura watching the interaction and smiling happily at the group. She looks back to her work and Coran pretends he wasn't crying.  
You laugh softly at him before the door in the back of the room opens. Lance and Hunk walk into the room, both of them looking exhausted.  
"You made it." Allura says, smiling at the two. They both haven't opened their eyes from walking in and groan in pain.  
"Yeah, just barely," Lance says, rubbing his back, "That was a nightmare. I almost puked out there. I felt like Hunk!" Hunk looks over to Lance before responding.  
"Think about how I felt. I am Hunk!" Hunk's eyes widen as he shudders. They finally look at the group and I cross my arms looking at the two.  
"Well, you can't complain because someone hasn't been doing their antigravity training exercises." You smile as the duo stands at the door looking at you. Then, it clicks and they both rush over to you, dog piling on top of you.  
"Y/N!" They both yell as they crush you. Shiro steps back, hands raised in alarm, and Pidge shrugs and jumps on top of Lance and Hunk. You take a sharp inhale from the sudden dogpile as the three hugs you tightly, not noticing your reaction.   
Keith steps forward, worried at first, but you meet his eyes and shake your head lightly. He nods and steps back as you see Shiro glance at the silent interaction between you and Keith, his eyebrows squinting in confusion.  
"Okay, Okay," You say, trying to push them off, "Can't breath and getting crushed!" They lean off of you and you sit with the three amigos on the ground, happy to not be crushed anymore.  
"Are you sure you're okay?" Lance asks, still looking slightly worried. You nod your head and Hunk cuts you off before you can respond.  
"What happened?" Pidge leans forward, also wondering about what happened to you. You think for a moment before deciding to wait to tell them, wanting to figure out the team's next plan of attack before dumping this on them.  
"I'll tell you guys later but don't worry. I'm alright!" You begin to stand up and the others follow suit. You give Pidge a hand, helping her stand up, trying to communicate that you're alright. She still looks nervously towards you because you avoided Hunk's question but looks to Shiro, who seems ready to have a meeting with the group. He looks to Allura and Coran, who are both facing the group.  
"Did we find the Red Lion yet?" Allura shakes her head yes as she pulls up footage of a galra ship.  
"Allura just located it," Coran explains, "There's a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is, the Red Lion's nearby. The bad news is, it's onboard that Galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again. We're Arus!" He raises his arms in excitement but Shiro looks alarmed.  
"They're here already?" Shiro questions Coran.  
"Yes. Guess my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting-- It's more of an art than a science."  
Coran looks at his fingers again, as if wondering what went wrong, when the screen where the galra ship was flashed and is replaced with a transmission of a purple galra glaring into the camera.  
"Princess Allura," he says, his voice loud and commanding, "this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet." He doesn't bother to with for a response and turns off the transmission, leaving the group hanging on those couple sentences.  
"All right, let's not panic." Shiro takes charge, breaking the silence and holding out his hands. You nod your head in agreement.  
"Not panic," Hunk asks, "The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship toward us. We only have five lions-"  
"Technically," Pidge interrupts, "only three working lions." Hunk shakes his head in agreement, continuing on.  
"That's right. Thank you, Pidge. Three working lions and a castle that's, like, 10,000 years old." Hunk holds out his arms for emphasis as Coran steps forward.  
"Actually, it's 10,600 years old. You see, it was built by my grandfather-" Coran starts but stops as Hunk holds a hand in front of his face.  
"Thanks, Coran. Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!" You walk over to Hunk and stand nearby, just in case his anxiety starts acting up even more. Allura suddenly looks like she remembers something and speaks up.  
"Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate." Lance smirks at Allura.  
"Girl, you've already activated my par-"  
"Lance!" Shiro manages to stop him before he finishes his sentence.  
"The particle barrier won't hold Sendak's ion cannon forever," Coran states, looking over the monitors,  
"The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last." That does nothing to help Hunk's thoughts.  
"Panic now?" Hunk suggests before Shiro steps in again.  
"No. We've just got to figure out our plan of action, and figure it out quickly." He starts thinking before Lance brings up an idea.  
"I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day." Lance crosses his arms and looks to Hunk, who nods furiously in agreement.  
"I second that," Hunk says, "Yes. We tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the old college try. Couldn't do it. We only have three. We can't form Voltron. I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance, that you were talking about." The situation seems to spiral further and further out of control and before you can say something, Lance walks over to Allura.  
"Then, it's settled. Allura and Y/n ride with me. One of you take the old guy." Lance points over to Coran, who glares angrily at Lance. You finally step forward and look to Lance.  
"I know that seems like one of our options right now but we just can't leave this planet defenseless."  
"Y/n is right," Pidge says, supporting you, "We can't just abandon Arus. The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them." Hunk nods while looking at Pidge.  
"Okay. If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we-- [hisses] out of here." Hunk wiggles his arms like a snake before Keith finally steps into the conversation.  
"Sendak could destroy the planet then come after us anyway. Staying is our only option." Lance looks to Keith and makes a zipping motion across his lips.  
"Here's an option: shut your quiznak."  
"I don't think you're using that word correctly." Keith quickly responds, looking slightly confused.  
"What do you know, Mullet?"  
"We're staying." Lance gauges up Keith, moving closer to him.  
"Leaving!"  
"Staying!" Pidge shouts.  
"Snake!" Hunk yells before you step in the middle of all of them.  
"Alright, that's enough!" The group quiets and looks to you. Shiro glances over; being you beat him to control the room. You nod to him, giving him control. He steps forward and talks to Allura.  
"Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?" Allura looks worried and glances down at her feet, her hands curling into fists.  
"I- I don't know." Coran walks over to Allura and talks to her softly.  
"Perhaps your father can help." Allura's eyes go wide at the mention.  
"My father?" Coran nods his head and leads Allura out of the room, looking to you. You nod back and understand that we may need to wait for a bit.

I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defenders or its characters. This is a reader insert story based on the events in the tv series.  
Y/n= Your name  
L/n= Last name  
""=dialogue  
''=Thoughts


	4. Episode 1: Part 4

You and the rest of the paladins waited in the control room for a while, not wanting to interrupt Allura and Coran. Lance had challenged you to a push-up challenge and was failing miserably, even with your disadvantage of being sore and having the new weight of your wings. He still tried to continue and you could see his arms shaking from the push-ups. Keith throws quips at Lance every once in a while, throwing him off. Keith and Shiro stand behind the group, leaning on a nearby column.  
“You’ve got to be cheating! There’s no way that you’re beating me.” Your ears perk up at the thought of a challenge.  
“Alright then,” You say as you stop and look at Lance, “How about this? We start from zero and go to 50. Whoever gets there first wins and claims bragging rights over the other and complete control over the other for a day. However, being you seem to think I’m cheating, I will give you a 30-second head start.”  
“Hold up,” Lance says, laying on the ground and gesturing with his hands, “all I get is a 30-second head start!? No, no, no. How about this?” Lance points at Pidge before continuing.  
“You need to have Pidge on your back while you do your push-ups! I’ve seen you do them with him on your back before and I know you still can. Take it or leave it!” You grimace slightly at that suggestion, knowing Pidge will be sitting on your wings and back. You’re feeling better from the event earlier but still are extremely sore. Keith also glares at Lance, knowing what he suggested could hurt you. You don’t answer before Lance tries to get the final word in.  
“What’s the matter, L/n? Chicken?” You slowly turn and look to Lance with a glare, your stubborn sense of competition kicking in and overriding logic.  
‘I can’t believe this idiot is getting to me.’ You think as you roll your eyes and get into a push-up position.  
“Pidge, get on my back.” ‘No going back now.’ She climbs onto your back, sitting criss-cross on top of you as Lance also gets into position. Keith looks at you nervous but doesn’t say anything.  
Hunk looks excited about the challenge as Lance looks at you, his confidence wavering for a second at the thought of you having complete control over him for a day before looking at you with a sly grin.  
You don’t feel anything wrong with Pidge on your back so far. She doesn’t weigh much and you’re actually used to the feeling. You’ve worked out sore before and just need to be careful.  
You stay in the down position as Hunk pulls out his phone and starts the timer for Lance. The thirty seconds go by quickly and Lance pounds through 25 push-ups. However, he went quickly and starts to slow down, thinking he would win. Hunk motions to you to start and you start, trying to ignore the slight pain of Pidge on your back.  
Shiro raises his eyes and smiles at the competition while Keith finally walks forward and sits with Hunk, a slight smile rising on his face.  
You easily catch up to Lance and pump through the pushups, both of you nearing the final five, when you feel a sharp pain in your back from where Pidge is sitting. You can feel an uncomfortable movement of the wings underneath the shirt and smack on the ground, losing the competition. You grunt as Pidge falls forward and off of you. Lance finishes the competition and raises his shaky arms up while whooping in delight.  
You manage to push yourself up and rub your back, feeling better now that Pidge is off. Hunk and Lance don’t seem to notice your pain as you stand up, rubbing your back gently. You offer Pidge a hand but she stares, worried, at you. She doesn’t say anything but you know that she will confront you later as she takes your hand and stands up. Keith also shares a similar expression, not knowing what to say, before walking over next to you. You shake your head slightly at him, letting him know you’re okay and not to bring it up.  
Shiro has stayed silent but noticed everything and before he can say anything, Allura enters the room. She wears a new suit of armor and has her hair up in a messy bun. She looks confident and ready as she walks into the room and towards the group.  
“You six paladins were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope. We are the universe's only hope.” Everyone looks at Allura, who seems to have found what she was looking for. Shiro takes one final glance at you before looking to the princess.  
“We're with you, Princess.”  
“Good.” Allura says, smiling brightly.  
“Nice outfit change!” Hunk says, looking at Allura’s suit more closely. Lance smirks and crosses his arms smoothly across his chest.   
“And just when I thought you couldn’t get any more beautiful.” Lance flirts at Allura who rolls her eyes, turning back to the hallway.  
“Follow me, everyone!” We all follow Allura closely as she leads us to another room in another hallway. ‘Dang, how does she find everything on this ship? I’m going to need a map.’ Allura enters the room and we see six suits of armor lined up in cases along the edge of the room. There is also a large table on the other side of the room, away from the suits. We all line up in front of our colored suits and stare in awe.   
“Your suits of armor.” Allura says, gesturing her arm to the cases.  
“Cool!” Lance says, looking at the blue highlights along his suit.  
“Outstanding.” Shiro states, looking at the shoulder armor. You stand in between him and Hunk, looking at your suit. It is very similar to the others and has almost no traces of black like the others. Your suit is almost completely white besides the middle chest plate and highlights, which are a light grey and lined with black. You lightly gasp as you see the Paladins colors striped along the left shoulder of your suit, just like your wings. The detail is small but you smile, wondering if that is just a coincidence.  
You glance at Hunks and see him comparing his body to the size of the suit and frowning. You place a hand on his shoulder and smile at him.  
“Don’t worry Hunk, I’m sure they adjust. Think about how short Pidge is.” He smiles at you while Pidge yells jokingly at you. Lance speeds over to you and Hunk and comes up from behind while putting his arms around the two of you.  
“Of course they do! How else are they going to adjust for all my awesome muscles?”  
“Or lack of.” Pidge quickly replies, not looking at Lance and smiling, while a solid laugh comes from Keith. Lance feigns a hurt face before sticking his tongue out at her jokingly. He heads back in front of his suit and leaves you and Hunk to your own.  
“Boys,” Shiro starts, before looking at you apologetically, “and lady, it's time to suit up!”  
You realize you need to take off your shirt to put on your suit and pause. Your hands freeze as you feel the soft fabric of the suit between your fingers.  
‘No secrets among paladins.’ You think. You look to Coran, who seems to be thinking the same thing, and nods his head slightly. Allura also gives you a soft smile, also realizing what you are about to do. You smile back, knowing they will both back you up if something happens. You take a breath before turning around to the other paladins, who are taking out their suits and getting ready to undress.  
“Guys.” The group turns to you and stops, looking at you. Your voice catches and Keith looks worried at you, suspecting what you are about to do. You aren’t able to speak as you look to the others, who slowly start to look more and more worried.  
“Earlier, I umm…” You can’t find the words and stare at the ground, trying to say something.  
You finally turn your back to the group and take off your shirt, revealing your wings to the group. The shirt falls to the floor as you wrap an arm around your waist while the other goes to your mouth, covering your worried whimper. You don’t hear the group saying anything beyond a couple of light gasps. The sudden release of the wings, tightens your back, making you gasp lightly in pain.  
Finally, after standing there for what seems like ages, you get ready to leave the room, knowing they probably think you’re a freak when you feel two small hands wrap around your back. You realize quickly it’s Pidge and meet her hands, sinking slowly to the floor with her. Tears of relief, pain, and confusion drop from your eyes as Lance and Hunk wordlessly walk in front of you and drop to give you a hug as well. You clutch the backs of their shirts and they all hug you tighter, not letting go. Shiro walks up behind Hunk and Lance and joins the hug too, nudging your forehead softly with his. You smile and look to Keith, who is standing near the group but not engaging in the hug. Lance sees this and pulls away, looking to Keith.  
“Come on Mullet! Join the bonding!” Lance quickly grabs Keith before he can reply and pulls him into the group hug. Keith rolls his eyes but joins in on the moment. Finally, you begin to release your hug and the others do the same, realizing you will probably explain now.  
“Thanks, guys,” You start, beginning to stand up, “honestly, I was so nervous as to how you guys were going to react.” The others stand up and Hunk places a hand on your back, rubbing it up and down as you do for him when he’s nervous.  
“You’re part of this team, Y/n. Nothing is going to change that. Not even a pair of awesome wings.” You laugh slightly at his comment and Coran steps in.  
“I believe that Y/n might be a part of a species called Avies. They are a well-known group that traded and worked with Altea from time to time. However, until we know for sure, the most we can do is help Y/n figure out what this is and help her control them.”  
“Of course,” Allura says, finally stepping forward, “We will help you train and get used to your wings as quickly as possible!”  
“Thank you both,” Shiro says, “We’ll be there every step of the way.” You glance at them all, giving a grateful smile. You stand up with the others, who formed a circle around you.  
“Anyway,” Lance says, bouncing on his heels, “can we fangirl over them now?!” You laugh out loud at this and concentrate on fully opening your wings. It’s hard but you manage to hold them open for the team to look at. It feels like you’re holding a plant with your back, which is a weird feeling, but you know it will take time to get used to this.  
The group fawns over the wings, Pidge taking notes, and Hunk gently brushing his hands over the feathers. Lance, however, notices the change in colors along the wings.  
“Hey, these seem like the colors of the suits.” Lance looks back and forth rapidly between your wings and the suits before realizing they’re the same.  
“That’s because they are the same colors as the suits!!”  
“Well,” Pidge says, pushing her glasses up, “they probably are the same colors as the lions as well.”  
“Yeah, but why would there be those colors in the first place on Y/n’s wings?” Keith asks, rubbing the back of his neck. We all seem at a loss before you finally speak up.  
“The first time I ever felt anything regarding my back was when we first discovered what Voltron was so maybe figuring this out ties into getting my wings?” You shrug, unsure, as Coran pulls on his mustache in thought.  
“Well, most Avies get their wings as children so, if anything, then yes, your wings coming in was most likely triggered by discovering Voltron.” The group goes silent, letting that soak in before you break the silence one more time.  
“Well, I guess now you guys will always be with me.” You smile brightly at the team and they return it. You then flinch sharply as the pain from holding your wings in that position kicks in and you lean forward in pain. Lance grabs your arm, worried, and holds onto you for support.  
“You okay?” Lance asks as Coran walks over to you, looking closely at your back. You shake in agreement at Lance but still flinch from the pain, it fading away as the wings slowly lower to the floor.  
“Y/n is probably going to be in a lot of pain for the next few days.” Coran says, moving in front of you and the team, “She just grew in adult wings that usually mature and grow over the course of several years. There is bruising at the base of your wings but, with time and practice, they will just feel like another set of limbs to you.” You nod to Coran, guessing the bruising is the cause for the constant random spikes of pain, and grab Lance’s hand, squeezing it in appreciation for his worry.  
“I don’t mean to interrupt this moment,” Allura starts, stepping forward, “but we really must find the rest of the lions before the battlecruiser gets here. We’ll have plenty of time to figure this out when you get back.” You nod to Allura and follow the others to put on your suit. There is a tight jumpsuit that must first be put on before the armor. Looking at the other suits, you notice a big difference between yours and their suits.  
You realize that the back of your armor does not contain a jetpack like the others and is instead left open. You glance nervously at Coran, looking for an explanation.  
“Don’t worry, Y/n. That space there opens for your wings to come out if you wish. The previous white paladin was also an Avie so we had to modify the uniform a bit.”  
You nod as you put the armor on. It feels big but slowly adjusts to your body and height. You do some slow, controlled breathings as the suit tightens, and you are glad for the wings to be tight against your back for now. You turn to the others who also have their suits on and smile. Allura walks over to the table in the middle of the room and spreads her hands over it. The table lights up and five devices float out of it and towards the group.  
“The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each paladin.”  
Lance grabs a hold of the blue bayard, which turns into a sniper gun. He lets out a whoop and looks around the room through the scope.  
Hunk grabs a yellow bayard as it floats to him and flinches in shock as it turns into a large looking gun. He grunts at the sudden change of weight, adjusting a majority of the weight to his non-injured leg before steadying out and grinning at the weapon.  
Keith grabs his red bayard, which flashes and turns into a sword. He looks at the sword as his shield also appears on his left wrist, reminding you of a paladin from Dungeons and Dragons.  
‘Paladins of Voltron. This would be a good cosplay opportunity.’ You lightly laugh at your thoughts as you turn to Pidge.  
She grabs her bayard and it shines green, forming a curved knife along the top of it that she slashes in front of her. Lance, of course, leans over and smiles at her swings.  
“Aw, you got a cute little bayard…” He smirks at Pidge before she swings her knife at Lance. It shocks him and he falls to the ground, Pidge standing over him with a grin.  
“Yeah, it is pretty cute.” You finally get your bayard and it turns into a beautiful white bow. Just like your suit, you see the paladin’s colors striped along the grip of the bow. ‘Okay, not a coincidence.’ However, you don’t have any arrows and look to Allura in confusion. She smiles brightly and walks over to you, fawning over your bow.  
“Amazing! I haven’t seen an Altean Bow in ages.” You raise your eyebrows in confusion.  
“Altean Bow?” Allura nods her head and looks at you.  
“This actually was a traditional royal guard weapon. Our aviation fighters were always well versed in them.”  
“In fact,” she continues, looking at the group, “all of the weapons here were division weapons. Lance and Hunk’s guns were also for long-range fighters while Pidge and Keith’s were close combat weapons. However, your bow was specifically a royal guard weapon.”  
“Okay,” you say before thinking back to your initial confusion, “but are there any arrows?” She shakes her head no and steps away from you.  
“Just pull.” You give Allura a confused glance before holding up the bow in position, rolling your shoulders and remembering how much you loved the archery range as a kid at summer camp. You pull back on the cord and an arrow materializes onto the bow, nocked in position.   
You jump at the appearance of the arrow and accidentally let go, the arrow shooting and hitting the wall. It sticks in the wall before disappearing like it was never there. ‘Well, that’s a handy feature.’ You hear a couple of light gasps from the group as they weren’t expecting that either. You look to Allura who lightly hops on her heels in excitement.  
The group smiles at their weapons but you notice Shiro did not get one. He wrings his hands slightly and before you can say anything, Allura walks over, noting his stress.  
“Shiro, I'm afraid your bayard was lost with its paladin.” He shakes his head and sighs before dawning a slight smile.  
“I guess I'll just have to make do.” You smile at him pushing through and hope he’ll be okay without a weapon for now.  
“All right then!” Allura says while clapping her hands together, “let’s go back to the control room and make a plan!” We follow Allura and Coran out of the armor room and head back down the hallway, her leading the way. I walk by Shiro, Pidge and Hunk are walking together, discussing the castle, and Lance and Keith are also walking together, looking at Keith’s sword.  
“How are you doing?” Shiro asks as he turns and looks at you with a slight worry, probably relating to everything that’s happened today.  
“Actually, Shiro, I’m doing pretty good.” He raises his eyes in surprise and then gives me a smile before facing forward.  
“I’m not surprised; you seem to be handling most of everything that’s happened pretty well.” You smile at his statement and catch him looking at his robotic arm. He continues speaking while glaring at it.  
“I wish I could say the same. This is just a reminder that…that I…” He seems at a loss of words and clenches his fist and jaw, bringing his arm stiffly back to his side. Your heart stabs at Shiro’s words, not knowing what he’s been through but knowing he’s scared and scarred. You place a hand softly on his arm, speaking quietly so the team can’t hear.  
“Your arm is a reminder of how strong you are. It’s a reminder of strength and perseverance. Don’t take it as anything else.” He nods at your statement, slightly smiling, but you know it’s going to take more than that to help Shiro through the events of the past. You walk with the team, listening to Pidge and Hunk discuss the details of the hallway and rooms and Coran adds an interesting detail every once in a while. You finally arrive back at the control room and stand around the podium Allura stands on. A large map of Sendak’s ship appears above her.  
“You'll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak's ship.”  
“That's a pretty big ship.” Keith says, crossing his arms, “How are we gonna know where the Red Lion is?” The group looks to Pidge as she spreads her arms towards Keith.  
“It's not a matter of ‘we.’ It's a matter of ‘you.’” Hunk holds out his arm in agreement with Pidge.  
“Pidge is right. Once we get you in, you'll be able to feel its presence and track it down.” Lance also turns to Keith and crosses his arms.  
“Yeah. You know how you felt that crazy energy while we were in the desert?” Keith glares slightly at Lance’s statement.  
“Yeah. You made fun of me for that.”  
“And I'm proud of that, but turns out it's exactly like that mumbo-jumbo.” You roll your eyes at Lance before turning back to the Princess.  
“Keith, remember the Red Lion is extremely temperamental. You'll have to earn its respect.” Keith nods at Allura and Shiro places an arm on Keith’s shoulder in support.  
“All right. Here's our plan of attack.” Shiro begins, all eyes on him, “The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Yellow Lion, but they don't know we have the Green Lion, too. Hunk, Lance, you'll act as a decoy by pretending to give yourselves up.” Lance and Hunk look at each other with a smile, giving each other’s thumbs up. Shiro smirks before continuing.  
“While Sendak is distracted, Keith, Pidge, Y/n and I will sneak onto the ship in the Green Lion. Keith and I will find the Red Lion while Pidge and Y/n guard our exit. Hunk, Lance, you’re gonna have to find some way to take down that ion cannon.”  
“You got it, Shiro.” Lance says.  
“Alright team, let’s get that lion.”  
“Keep in close contact with each other and us. Coran and I will be in the castle and try to assist as best we can.” Allura looks to Coran and back to the team, placing her hand on the podium. We give her a nod and head off, Lance and Hunk heading for their lions as Keith, Shiro, Pidge, and I head for Green.  
(Now at Sendak’s Ship)  
The Green Lion shoots underneath the ship and latches onto the bottom. Our helmets flash and form a barrier around our mouths, acting like an astronaut helmet so we can breathe outside of Green. We get ready to enter the ship as I realize I don’t have a jetpack with my armor. I turn to Shiro, who is getting ready to go out first.  
“Shiro, do you mind if I hold onto you to get in?” He gives a confused nod but reaches out his hand for mine.  
“Yeah. Why though?” I smirk and point to my back.  
“No jetpack.” He gives a slight ohh, remembering what Coran said earlier, and I grab onto his hand and we move out of the Green Lion, with Keith and Pidge right in front of us.  
Pidge moves towards the ship, takes out her bayard, and cuts a clean circle in the bottom, giving us a way in. I shoot in with Shiro, followed by Pidge and Keith. We go through a small airlock and enter the ship, finding ourselves in a giant power room with purple lasers powering giant crystals. We start moving towards a hallway of the ship, opening the door and moving quietly. The gravity in the hallway is switched on and we now are able to walk.   
“Pidge, what's your ETA?” We hear Lance say through the coms.  
“We're in.” Pidge responds as her helmet area disappears over her mouth. It does the same for Keith, Shiro, and I, meaning the air is fine to breathe in here.  
Shiro stops in the hallway as we move through the ship, looking down in thought and then turning around. He takes in a big gasp before looking at Keith.  
“I've been here before. After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here.”  
Pidge rushes in front of Shiro, eyes wide at the statement.  
“So, that means your other crewmembers, they might be held captive here. We-We've got to rescue them.” You can’t believe that this was the ship that Shiro and the others were on. If they are on the ship, we have a chance to find Matt and our Dad. However, Shiro shakes his head in disagreement at Pidge.  
“Pidge, we don't have time. We have to get the Red Lion and get back to Arus.”  
“But we can't just leave prisoners here!”  
“She’s right,” you say, “Shiro if there are people here we can help, we should at least try.” Shiro grimaces at the thought and looks conflicted about his words.  
“Look, no one understands that more than me, but, in war, we have to make hard choices. Now, let's get moving.” Shiro and Keith begin moving forward down the hallway, away from Pidge who hasn’t moved or said anything. She glares at Shiro and takes a step towards him. She looks at her feet sadly but talks with confidence towards Shiro.  
“No! Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones on the Kerberos Mission with you.” You look at Pidge in surprise. Nobody knows about this except you and you can see her determination to find her, no, our family.  
“Commander Holt is your father?” Shiro asks, stepping towards Pidge.  
“Yes. We've been searching everywhere for him and my brother.” Pidge states, looking to you, “And I'm not going to give up looking when I'm this close. I won't!” Pidge turns away from Shiro and begins walking, most likely to search for the prisoners here. I am about to volunteer to go with Pidge and find them while Shiro and Keith find Red before Shiro places an arm on Pidge’s shoulder.  
“I'm coming with you.” She smiles at his statement before Keith steps forward in worry.  
“What?”  
“I remember where the prisoners are held. Keith, you go find the Red Lion.” Shiro looks to me, standing near Pidge, and knows I want to go with Pidge but also knows Keith is worried.  
“By myself?” Shiro shakes his head no and looks at me.  
“Minor change of plans. Y/n can go with you while we find the prisoners.” I look at Shiro in alarm, wanting to help find my family but Shiro looks at me pleadingly, knowing how nervous Keith is. I shake my head in agreement and stand next to Keith.  
“Pidge,” you say, “Find them.” She shakes her head in agreement and gives me a quick hug. You ruffle her hair and let go.  
“You guys will be fine. Just remember, patience yields focus. So-” Shiro is cut off by galra bots marching down the hallway.  
“Run!” Shiro runs away with Pidge and you rush down the dark purple corridor with Keith, hoping to find the Red Lion. You run for a while, feeling your soreness slightly kick in until you can’t hear the soldiers anymore and come to a fork in the hallway.   
“Great. Now, which way?” Keith asks, looking at you.  
“I don’t know. Do you feel any connection to your lion?” Keith shakes his head and motions towards the left hallway.  
“Let’s try this way.” You follow Keith, both of you keeping at a fast jog, and come across another fork in the hallway. Keith drops his shoulders in annoyance, glaring at the pathway.  
“You've got to be kidding me!” You take a deep breath before turning to Keith, who is panting heavily.  
“We’ll figure it out. No one’s here so try and connect to Red now. Maybe that can lead us to her.” Keith looks at you and gives a half hearty nod before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. You hear him mutter ‘patience yields focus’ under his breath and he stands in silence. You begin to hear a faint buzzing in your head and look behind Keith to a doorway we passed. Keith opens his eyes and turns around to the hallway you were looking at.  
“Gotcha. This way, Y/n.” You jog with Keith through the hallway, wondering why you felt something towards the doorway Keith just HAPPENED to be leading us down. You make a mental note to ask Allura when we get back to the castle.  
You and Keith continue to jog in silence, no noise outside of yours and his breathing. You finally come across a giant hanger connected to an airlock. The Red Lion sits near the airlock with a red force field all around it, looking just like the Blue Lion when we found it on Earth.  
Keith jogs up to the Lion with a smile and places his hand on it.  
“Bingo. Let's get out of here. Open up.” The Lion makes no move to open and Keith continues to talk to it.  
“It's me. Keith. Your buddy. It's me! Keith, your-- I am your paladin!” He is emphasizing his words greatly and it does not seem to be convincing the lion. You slightly smirk at his mild annoyance before shots are fired at the two of you. You quickly duck down and see Galra bots standing on the edge of the room near the doorway we came through.  
Keith quickly activates his shield and pulls you behind him, continuing to talk to his lion while blocking the shots from hitting you or himself.  
“I'm bonding with you! Hey! Come on! We're connected!” You get your bow out and move from behind Keith and start taking shots at the Soldiers, using the storage boxes littered around the room as cover. Keith takes a different approach from your long-distance offense and sprints towards the bots with his sword.  
“You're not getting this lion!” He slashes at the bots with his sword, doing his best to protect Red as you continue to provide support from behind, shooting as many as you can. However, several more bots enter the room and you and Keith are becoming more and more outnumbered. You look to Red from behind your cover.  
“Come on, Red!” The lion still doesn’t move by your words and you think about what to do. Keith gets hit with the blaster shot from the bots and gets knocked back towards a control counsel.  
‘Wait a sec. We’re in an airlock.’  
“Keith,” You shout, “the airlock!” He looks to the airlock during his standoff with a few bots and sees what you are thinking. He rushes with you towards the counsel in the middle of the room and grabs a hold of it, opening the airlock.  
The giant airlock doors open and Keith and I hold onto the counsel for dear life, your helmets putting the full face cover back on. Your back screams in pain as the airlock begins sucking out the bots and closing the side doors. However, it also is sucking out all of the storage boxes and items littered in the airlock. The objects rush past Keith and me as we try to hang on.  
After all the bots are gone, Keith reaches to hit the button to close the doors before a piece of scrap metal hits him square in the face, knocking him off the counsel. You quickly grab his wrist and try to hang on before a box hits you in the chest, knocking you and Keith off the counsel and out of the airlock. You lose grip of Keith and begin flying out into space with him.  
Keith pants hard and stabilizes himself with his jetpack, stopping his quick movements and spinning but looks to you in worry. ‘Wait, no jetpack. No jetpack!!!!.’ You think in alarm as you yell to Keith.  
“Keith! No jetpack!!” He starts trying to move over to you with his but his lack of experience with his jetpack is evident as he seems to be moving away from you. Before anything else can happen, you see a flash of Red as the Red Lion roars and rushes out of the hanger towards Keith, who yells in surprise. It opens its jaw and swallows Keith inside before looping around and coming towards you.  
You brace yourself and get ‘eaten’ by the lion. As you go inside, the gravity turns on and you land on the ground by Keith, who helps you up. He smiles lightly as he nods his head towards the cockpit.  
“You really need to talk to Coran about getting a jetpack.” You laugh.  
“Tell me about it.” You and Keith jog to the cockpit and Keith takes a seat, rubbing the interface of buttons and controls.  
“Good kitty. Let's roll.”  
Keith piloted Red around Sendak’s ship, meeting the Blue and Green Lions.  
“You guys made it!” Hunk says excitedly over the comms.  
“Kitty Rose has left the stage!” You laugh at Pidge’s quip before Lance begins moving back towards Arus, ready to get away from Sendak.  
“Let's get the heck out of here!”  
“I hope I stopped that cannon.” Hunk states, as his Lion joins the group, “I could barely make a dent in it.”  
“You did great, Hunk.” You say, opening your communication line, “We need to hurry back. Sendak will be after the Lions as soon as their cannon is back up and running.”  
“Y/n’s right,” Shiro says, “Allura, we’re on our way back with the Lions. What now?” A small screen appears on Keith’s monitor, no doubt appearing on the other monitors as well, of Allura and Coran inside the castle.  
“Great job, paladins. Go to the back of the castle. The Black and White Lions are there.”  
“10-4, beautiful.” Lance says, leading the way back to Arus.  
“Pidge, anything?” You ask, opening communication to the Green Lion and seeing Pidge look down at her feet.  
She shakes her head and you sigh, wishing that they were there. That you knew they were safe. Looks like you will have to wait a little longer. Keith notices your quiet tone and doesn’t pry, respecting your privacy.   
Keith pilots Red back to Arus, with the others in their respective lions.  
“Man, Keith, Red is fast.” You notice how Red is speeding up a lot quicker than the others and staying close to the front with Blue. Keith smirks lightly at your comment and sees how you are trying to distract yourself from the news Pidge just gave.  
“Yeah. She’s pretty fast.” You see the Blue Lion riding right alongside the Red Lion and see Blue always trying to stay ahead in the front. Keith furrows his eyebrows at Lance’s flying and tries to move ahead of him once again. Blue continues to stay ahead of Red and you turn to Keith, a competitive idea in your head.  
“I hope you’re thinking what I’m thinking.” Keith gives a light smile and nods, his hands tightening over his controls before he slams both of them forward, tearing past Lance, who attempts to catch up.   
You grasp Keith’s chair tightly as the Lion goes faster and faster towards Arus.  
“Keith!” Shiro says worried over the comms, “Are you okay?”  
‘Ever the worried parent.’ You think before turning on your channel.  
“We’re good, Shiro. Just a little friendly competition. Might want to check on Lance though.” Keith lets out a laugh as Lance turns on his channel frantically.  
“Now hold on! There was no countdown or anything!!! UNFAIR.” You and Keith laugh lightly at Lance as we finally approach the castle. Keith pilots Red to the back and the others touch down nearby. Keith looks to you and nods to the exit.  
“You’re up, Y/n.” You hear the exit outside the doorway open up and see Shiro exiting from Pidge through the window of the Lion.  
“See you soon, Keith. And thanks for the save back there.” You give a friendly wink before jogging out of Red, meeting up with Shiro.  
You both stand at two large doorways at the back of the castle, the other four Lions standing behind you. You look to the right doorway and feel a shiver go down your back.  
“They’re in there.” You say as Shiro turns to you. He smiles slightly and nudges your shoulder with his.  
“You ready?” You give a nod and see the doors begin to light up. The Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow Lion’s eyes all light up as the giant doors begin to open. Inside the left door, the Black Lion sits, its wings glinting in the sun, and on the right, The White Lion sits, waiting for you. You bounce on your heels, excitedly, ready to meet White. The White and Black Lions both stand and roar, causing the other four Lions to roar back in reply.  
“Wow.” Shiro says as you hear Allura and Coran cheering through the coms. However, before you can even move, you hear a loud beeping from Allura’s end.  
“Oh, quiznak!” Coran says.  
“Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere. We need Voltron now!” Allura’s response spurs Shiro and me and we begin sprinting towards our respective Lions. White lowers her jaw to the floor and opens it, allowing me a way in. You sprint down the hallway to the control room, quickly sitting in your seat and grasping your steering controls. You catch your breath as the monitors and boards all light up, sensing your presence.  
‘Nice to meet you, White Paladin.’ You whip your head around, not seeing anyone else in the room.  
‘Can the lions talk?’ You think before shaking your head. ‘Later, Y/n.’  
“Nice to meet you too but we need your help! Let’s go!” You hear the Lion purr in response and pilot White out of her spot, meeting up with the others, who are getting ready to confront Sendak.  
You see his large ship coming into Arus’s atmosphere from space, along with several other smaller aircrafts. You and the others fly towards the front of the castle limits, just outside of the particle barrier, and see the smaller aircrafts firing at the barrier. Then, Sendak’s ion cannon lights up and shoots a gigantic blast towards the castle. It hits the castle hard and causes the Lions to shake like crazy. You hear the others groaning from the impact through your comms as you clutch your sheering controls and try to hold on. Your wings move uncomfortably underneath your suit but you try and hold it together.  
“Man, those Galra guys repair things fast.” Hunk says as you open a connection to Allura.  
“Allura, are you and Coran alright?”  
“We’re alright. But you need to hurry.” She says before Coran chimes in.  
“The barrier gets weaker with every blast. Once that shield goes down, the castle will be defenseless.”  
“I can give you cover with the castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron now or we'll all be destroyed!”  
“Jeez, no pressure.” Hunk says, coping with sarcasm before another blast hits the particle barrier and shakes us all again.  
“Listen up, Team Voltron!” Shiro yells over the coms, “The only way to succeed is to give it all you've got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?” You nod your head softly at Shiro’s statement, wiping a bit of sweat off your forehead.  
“I'm nodding. Is everyone else nodding?” Hunk asks quietly and you chuckle at his statement.  
“Yes.” Everyone responds.  
“Let's do this!” Shiro says as he leads the way towards Sendak’s ship, the others following close behind. The Lions run out of the particle barrier in a tight formation, the galra fighter ships moving closer to the group.  
“Uh, how?” Lance asks.  
“Good question. Does anyone have any ideas of how to form Voltron?”  
“I don't see a "combine into giant robot" button anywhere on my dashboard.” Hunk says as the ships begin firing at the lions. We jump off a small cliff onto an open area of ground, the ships continuing to fire at us. The Green Lion suddenly turns around and starts running towards the nearest ship firing at the group.  
“This is insane!” Pidge says, her lion jumping up and grabbing the small ship, “Can't they just ceasefire for one minute so we can figure this out? Is that too much to ask?” The Green Lion flings the ship away towards another ship, where they blow up as Green continues running.  
“Little too much to ask Pidge,” You say, dodging the shots from the ships, “I doubt using manners would help either.”  
“Well, We've got to do something.” Keith says as his lion stops and begins shooting a laser from its tail. The laser blows up a few ships and the Red Lion turns to the group.  
“Combine!” Hunk yells as he rams Yellow into Red, expecting something to happen. Red just rolls away and you hear Keith groaning through the coms.  
“Hey!” He yells as the Yellow Lion lowers its head.  
“Okay, that didn't work.” The ships begin shooting at Hunk and Keith, who begin running again with the pack.  
“Quickly, Paladins!” You look to your right and see Allura on a video camera, looking exhausted with her screen shaking, “Our energy levels are getting low!”  
“Hang on Allura!” You yell, piloting White to jump and tear the wings off a low flying galra ship. The ship crashes behind you and you continue to run with the others, adrenaline blocking out any pain or soreness from your body.  
“Maybe if we fly in formation, we'll just combine.” Shiro says as we near a cliff, “Take off on my cue. One, two, three, Voltron!” We all jump off the cliff and begin flying straight upward, staying in a tight formation.  
“Come on!” You hear Lance yell through the intercoms. You close your eyes and try to connect to White but you can’t hear her anymore.  
“Nothing's happening.” Shiro says as you notice a bright red white outside of your windows, shining inside from all sides.  
“Hey, wait, wait, wait! I feel something!” Lance says as you look for the source of the light.  
“I do, too. I feel it. It's like we're all being pulled in the same direction!” Hunk says as you look up and Sendak’s ship shining a large red beam on all of the Lions  
“Uh, guys,” Shiro quickly says, “I think I know why. Look up.”  
“What the cheese?” Lance mutters as you try and move White out of the beam.  
“Sendak's ship is sucking us in like a black hole!” Pidge says as you catch a glance of her in her cockpit, trying to maneuver her lion before Green pulls ahead of you in the beam. Sendak fires another large blast from the ion cannon at the castle and the particle barrier goes down.  
“Allura!” You yell, worried that she and Coran got hurt.  
“Oh, no!” Shiro says before Hunk starts panicking.  
“I don't care what you say, Shiro. I'm panicking now!” You hear Hunk screaming through the coms.  
“Breath Hunk!” You say, “Hang on everyone!”  
“It can't end here!” Pidge says  
“This is it!” Lance says as his Lion flips upside down in the tractor beam.  
“It's been an honor flying with you all.” Keith says.  
“No!” Shiro says, his voice echoing through the coms. “We can do this. We have to believe in ourselves. We can't give up. We are the universe's only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can't fail! We won't fail! If we work together, we'll win together!” You grasp the controls of your lion tightly before yelling in agreement with the others.  
The Lions all roar at Sendak’s ship and break off from the tractor beam, glowing and forming Voltron. You feel your lion shifting and moving with the others, you going into the middle of the Lion with Shiro as the head, Lance and Hunk as legs, and Keith and Pidge as arms.  
Sendak’s Ion Cannon is thrown off by the transformation and a shot from the ion cannon barely misses hitting the castle, Voltron standing in the way.  
“I can't believe it!” Keith yells.  
“We formed Voltron!” Pidge says.  
“Thank the stars.” You say, sighing in relief.  
“I'm a leg!” Hunk yells, happy to be here.  
“How are we doing this?” Lance asks.  
“I don't know,” Shiro says, “but let's get that cannon!”  
Voltron moves together, all of the paladins working to move the cannon, as we tear the cannon off of Sendak’s ship and send it flying to the ground. Voltron plunges the Red Lion into the ship and fires, causing the ship to tear in two and begin to fall apart. Several ships are fleeing the main ship as the team yells together and tears through the other part of Sendek’s ship, officially destroying it.  
‘Man, we probably look so cool now.’ You think with the explosion behind Voltron.  
“We did it.” You hear Keith say before the others start cheering over the coms. You hear Hunk crying in the background but know he’s alright.  
“Take us home, Shiro.” You say, opening up your video to Shiro. He gives a happy nod, thrusting his controls forward.  
“Yes ma’am.” Voltron flies towards the castle and touches down at the entrance, the individual Lions separating. Everyone runs out of their Lions and towards the entrance, looking for Allura and Coran. They finally come out at the entrance and rush towards the group.  
“Good work, Paladins!” She says as Pidge runs up next to you and jumps while holding onto your shoulder excitedly. You grab her and spin her, excitedly, around before falling to the ground next to Hunk, who seems to have the same idea and falls to the ground with us.  
“Thanks, pretty lady.” Lance says, taking off his helmet and grinning at Allura.  
“We did it.” Shiro says, taking off his helmet and running a hand through his hair.  
“Heck yeah, we did.” Keith says, shaking out his hair.  
“How did we do it?” Shiro asks, looking confused at Keith. Hunk rocks forward and stands up, offering both you and Pidge a hand to stand before responding.  
“I was just, like, screaming the whole time. Maybe that did it.” The group goes silent at his comment before you burst out laughing at Hunk, the rest of the group joining in. Pidge puts her glasses back on, laughing slightly before glancing at the ground sadly.  
You know she must be thinking about Matt and Dad and you walk over to her, pulling her into a side hug and resting your head on hers. She leans into you and sighs before Shiro walks over to us and puts a hand on Pidge’s shoulder.  
“We're not going to stop searching until we find your brother and father. Wherever they are, I know they'd be proud of you.” Pidge smiles at Shiro’s statement and you look to him, giving an appreciative nod.  
“Both of us.” Pidge says, elbowing you slyly. You fake hurt and grab your stomach dramatically, happy Shiro’s words got through to her.  
“Wait, what?” Keith says, sliding up next to Shiro and looking at Pidge and me. I point to myself before throwing an arm around Pidge.  
“Adopted big sister.” Keith and Shiro raise their eyebrows at the statement before Shiro smirks and turns to Allura.  
“Figured.” He said, acting as if he knew all along. Keith rolls his eyes and looks to Lance and Hunk, who seem to be mind-blown at the statement.  
“You’re siblings?!” They both shout together before Allura comes into the middle of our circle and begins talking. ‘That’s gonna be a fun conversation later.’ You think before turning to Alura.   
“We won the battle, but the war has only just begun. I'm afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these lions.” Coran comes forward, standing next to Allura and messing with his mustache.  
“Good thing you paladins know what you're doing because you're going to have to form Voltron again and again.” Hunk and Lance lean towards Coran at this statement, looking exhausted.  
“Totally.” Hunk, says before understanding what Coran said, “Wait, what?”  
“We barely survived forming Voltron this one time.” Lance says before Coran points at him.  
“And you only had to fight one ship.” Coran states, “Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! It's not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe.” Your eyes widen at the term.  
‘Defenders of the Universe. Catchy.’  
“Defenders of the Universe, huh?” Shiro says, seeming to say what you were thinking, “That's got a nice ring to it.”  
“I agree.” You say, turning to Shiro. Allura and Coran begin leading the others inside the castle, Hunk and Pidge staying near you with Keith, Shiro, and Lance walking side by side.  
“Now then, let’s get you all settled inside.” Allura says, leading us into the room that scanned us when we first arrived. Instead of going forward, we went to the right and started going down another long hallway.  
“Oh yeah,” Hank said, holding his chin in thought, “I guess we’ll be living here now.”  
“Of course!” Coran said, obviously excited.  
“Let’s get you all a hot shower and clean beds.” Allura says, checking her bracelet similar to Coran’s, “I’m sure you all are very tired from everything today.” Lance walks up beside her and gives her the Lance smile.  
“You said it, Princess. Only if I can be near your room.” Allura, however, doesn’t seem to get his implication and looks at Lance confused.  
“No, there is a specific wing for paladins and my room is on the next floor up.” Lance stops in place in the hall, staring defeated at Allura while she gives an oblivious smile and continues walking. You and Pidge walk up behind Lance and smirk.  
“Shot down…” You say when Lance flips around to face you.  
“Shut it, Y/n!” You laugh at Lance’s antics with the others, happy to be ending the day on a high note when you get a large flash of pain from your wings. They didn’t feel injured, more like cramped and sore, but it still causes you to quickly lean onto the wall for support and catch your breath.  
“Hey, You okay, Y/n?” Shiro asks as he places a nervous hand on your shoulder. The others stopped and were looking at you, everyone noticing your sudden stop. You shake your head in agreement, rolling your shoulders, and begin walking again.  
“Yeah. I’m sure I’ll be fine as soon as we can stretch out.” Coran steals a nervous glance at you before Hunk’s eyes light up with an idea.  
“Can we do massages?!” He says, raising his voice in excitement. You laugh slightly, knowing that massages would definitely help your back and probably help the others too.  
“Sure, Hunk.” He pumps his fist, excited for later before Coran waves to the group.  
“Let’s not waste any time then. Come on Paladins!” Coran and Allura finally lead us to a new hallway, blocked by a door, and press a few buttons on the keypad to the left of it. The door opens and reveals a small room with a large bed in the middle, drapes hanging on the sides, a dresser on the left, and a door on the right to a bathroom.  
“This is my room in the castle.” Allura says, stepping inside and taking in her room, “Please feel free to come by if you need anything. For now, I can make replicates of the clothes you brought and make others later if need be.” The others walk into the room and Pidge steps near Allura.  
“How does that work?” She asks, looking at her. Allura smiles and presses a button on the keypad near her bathroom and a tube comes down from the ceiling, hitting the floor lightly. It’s completely see-through and big enough for a single person to fit inside.  
“This machine was actually made by a friend of mine back on Altea. She knew that, with my being a Princess, I would often need clothes alterations and duplicates for events and made this. You can step inside and it will scan you to make clothes to your exact size and you can duplicate existing clothes you already have.” Allura smiles, remembering her friend before pressing another control on her bracelet. A table floats into the room and our clothes from earlier are folded neatly on it.  
“Wow. Thanks, Allura.” You say, giving her a thankful nod, which she returns, before walking over to your clothes with the others. We all grab our individual clothes and I notice everyone also got a bracelet like Allura’s and Coran’s. You hold up the bracelet, looking closely at it. It’s not very fancy, just a simple bracelet with a small area of glass. Inside the glass, you see a white gem, sitting inside it.  
‘I wonder if these were designed for the paladins specifically.’ The others notice their bracelets, exactly the same as yours but with their specific colors for their gems.  
“Those are bracelets, like mine and Coran’s.” Allura says, stepping towards us and holding up her wrist, “They can be used to get around the castle without getting lost and can summon a table if you need one.”  
‘Thank god.’ You think, ‘Now we won’t get lost.’  
“Alright, chop-chop!” Coran says, wanting to get us to sleep, “Into the scanner.” Shiro steps forward first with his clothes in his hand, the glass rising up to let him in and closing after. A blue light scans over Shiro as he looks up at it. When it reaches his feet, it beeps and the machine raises the glass to let him out.  
“Perfect,” Allura says, “Your room will stock your clothes inside!”  
“Alright.” Shiro says, smiling at the technology and Allura. The others all get scanned with their clothes along with you, who wanted out of the tight space as soon as you got it. After the group all scanned, Coran pulls you aside and hands you more of the Avie shirts from earlier, some of them having holes cut in the back.  
“Here’s a couple of extra Avie shirts with and without cutouts, Y/n. You can wear either of them when you want. Just know that, when we’re in the castle, you should wear the ones with the cutouts so your wings can stretch and not be tight against your back.” Coran gives a warm smile and you return it, appreciating his kindness.  
“Thanks, Coran.” Allura happily claps her hands together and beckons the group to follow her.  
“Now then, to your rooms.” She leads us out of her room and the hallway, coming across a stairwell she leads us down. The door from the stairwell leads to another hallway, this time a dead end, with six separate doors, three on each side.  
“All of the rooms have their own beds, closets, and bathrooms inside each so don’t have to worry about sharing.” Allura glances at her bracelet and calls out the room order.  
“Pidge, Y/n, and Shiro. Your rooms are on the left. Lance, Hunk, and Keith. The right.” You walk to your room, the 1st one on the left, and smile, looking to Pidge standing in front of her door. You hear Hunk and Lance excitedly chattering about being neighbors while Keith shakes his head at the two.  
“Right next door.” Pidge says, holding out her hand in a fist to you.  
“Just like at home.” You say before giving her a knuckle bump. The others open their rooms and walk inside, looking at the layout of the rooms. Before you can open yours, Allura holds a hand out and stops you, typing a code onto your room keypad.  
“Let me put in a couple of new codes for your room, Y/n. Coran found the Avie code so, there are a few things the room will change to make you more comfortable.” She inputs the code and the keypad goes green, while you hear sounds from inside the room. Soon, they stop, and the keypad flashes, and the doors open, revealing your room. It was simple but very nice. It had a really big bed on the right side of the room, a closet in the right corner along with a dresser. There was a desk to the left before a door that you assumed led to the bathroom. You place your clothes from earlier on the bed, loving the simplicity of the space. Allura stands in the doorway, looking around before Lance pokes his head in and stares at your bed in anger.  
“You get a big bed! Come on!” Lance yells, gesturing with his hands before Keith shouts at him from his room.  
“Lance! You can adjust your room! Shut up!” You see Lance face in the direction of Keith’s voice before leaving to go back to his room.  
“Thanks but no thanks, Mullet!”  
“I want a big bed too!!” You hear Hunk yell from his room, frantically.  
You roll your eyes at them, wondering how that relationship is going to work later, before going to the bathroom. It has a sink, toilet, bathtub, and shower inside, along with a different machine along the wall you don’t recognize. You point to it before facing Allura.  
“What’s this, Allura?” She walks over to you and moves in front of the machine, opening it up.   
“A wing dryer for after you get out of the shower. It will quickly dry your wings so you don’t have to dry them yourself.” You look at the dryer and see it is about the size you think your wings would be.  
“Cool! Handy.” You say, rubbing your neck shyly, thankful for all the help Allura and Coran have given in regards to your situation.  
“Any sort of products or things you may need should be in there somewhere too. Just have to find them.”  
“No worries Allura. Thank you.” You and Allura walk out of your room, seeing the others outside as well. She turns to the group, lightly holding her hands.  
“Coran and I will allow you all to get settled in but tomorrow starts training so make sure you get a good night's rest.” She turns away and opens the stairway door, grabbing the frame before looking back at us. “Good night Paladins and… Thank you.” She smiles softly and walks away, the group collective saying an array of “good nights.” Hunk turns to you and bounces excitedly.  
“Hallway in 10 for messages?!” You shake your head in agreement, wanting to get some comfy clothes on beforehand.  
“Hallway in 10.” You say entering your room and closing the door. You hear Coran talking with Keith before it shuts, leaving you alone. You walk over to your keypad and make a few sets of clothes that get dispensed below the keypad in a small boxed area. You pick them up and place them on your bed before walking back over and looking for comfy clothes to sleep in.  
You finally find a blue set of pajamas that catch your eye before having the machine make them. It takes a little longer than the set of clothes and you get undressed while waiting. You put your armor in the closet along with the jumpsuit, noticing how it doesn’t smell or feel sweaty.  
‘Man, this Altean technology is crazy.’ You stretch out your wings behind you, happy to have some freedom to move when you finally hear the pajamas dispense and walk over to grab them. You take them into the bathroom with you, shutting the door behind you. You strip and take a shower, the warmth of the water helping with your sore muscles. Your wings get wet very quickly and become a lot heavier with the new weight. After a quick rinse off, you step out, drying off as best you can before walking out to the wing dryer. You carefully lift your wings to it and it closes upon them, letting out a light humming noise. You feel the heat on your wings for about 15 seconds before the machine opens up, letting the wings out. They are already dry and slightly puffy from the heat.  
You grab your clothes, get dressed, put on the new bracelet from Allura, and walk back to your room, wanting to put away your clothes with the few minutes you have left. You begin putting them away when you hear a knock on your door.  
You walk over and open it, fearing you took longer than 10 minutes before you notice it’s Coran.  
“Hello, Y/n. Just wondering if I could be of service!” You look to him, confused before nodding for him to continue.  
“Y/n, if you would like, I can help you to do some stretches and workouts in the mornings to train your wings and give you more control over them.” You raise your eyebrows at Coran’s offer, again surprised by his thoughtfulness, but he takes your surprise negatively and rubs the back of his neck, not looking at you.  
“BUT if you’re uncomfortable with that, it’s alright. I know I’m not exactly a teacher and there are so many people that could do it better than me but-” You cut off Coran’s fast rambling with a hug, hoping he understands your appreciation. He seems shocked by the hug at first but eventually returns it, taking a sigh of relief.  
“Thank you, Coran. I would love that.” You say, pulling back and looking at him. He smiles and points his finger upwards.  
“It won’t be easy, you know.”  
“I don’t expect it to be but I’m ready.” You give him a determined nod and he smiles.  
“Alright, I’ll give you an early wake-up call tomorrow and we’ll get to work.” He gives you a wave before heading down the hallway towards the stairs, heading to bed.  
“Good night Coran.” You close the door and put away the last of your clothes, ready for a message. You grab your pillow and head out to the hallway, already hearing the others. You walk out and sit beside Pidge, seeing everyone in their own different pajamas.  
“Glad to see you join us.” Pidge says, glancing at you.  
“Oh shush, I’m on time.” You elbow her lightly and look to Hunk, who seems ready to facilitate.  
“Okay so, being there is six of us, we should all grab partners and then switch.” He sits on the ground and looks to the group for a partner. Pidge walks over and sits in front of him, already deciding that they’re partners.  
“Good plan.” Shiro says, looking to Keith’s room, “Is Keith coming though?” Lance stands up and walks over to Keith’s door banging on it.  
“He better! Move your butt mullet, I need a partner!” You hear a groan from inside Keith’s room before the door opens to reveal a disgruntled Keith, his hair poofy from the shower. However, he is still in his normal clothes, unlike the others who have already changed. He glares at Lance before sitting on the ground.  
“For crying out loud- I’m coming.” Shiro glances over at you and scooches to sit next to you.  
“Guess we’re partners.” He says, smiling. You move behind him, wanting him to go first and see the others following suit, with Keith massaging Lance first and Hunk massaging Pidge. Keith seems a bit confused but Lance talks to him and he seems to get the hang of it.  
You begin messaging Shiro’s shoulders, feeling a lot of tension in them. With your experience as a medic, you had to know how to recognize tension and massage patients with pain. Hunk, Lance, and Pidge always took advantage of your knowledge and would try to steal massages as much as they could. Shiro relaxes as you massage his shoulders, taking deep calming breaths.  
“I haven’t gotten a back rub or massage in so long.” He says as you work on a knot in between his shoulder blades.   
“Really?” You ask.  
“Well, it’s not exactly a commodity in a galra prison.” You flinch lightly, forgetting for a second that Shiro only came back to Earth for a few hours before being thrown back into space. He senses your discomfort and looks at the ground.  
“Sorry.”  
“No. It’s alright. Just keep positive.” You say, continuing to work on the knot, “Message equals getting rid of stress. Not thinking of it.” He chuckles softly and relaxes again, letting you work. Finally, he turns around and nods for you to as well. You notice the others following suit, switching partners. You turn around and Shiro works on your shoulders and upper back, trying to be mindful of your wings.  
You know you just met him but you feel very comfortable letting Shiro do this. It’s crazy how much you have learned about this man in the last day but you feel like you’ve known him a lot longer. You sigh and just relax, enjoying the massage. You finally roll your shoulders and turn to Shiro, offering a smile.  
“That feels a lot better Shiro. Thank you.” He smiles and stands, offering you a hand, which you accept.  
“You probably needed it more than anyone.” You laugh before noticing Keith looking distressed with Lance’s massage.  
“Lance, be gentle.” Keith says, tensing up.  
“I am! When am I ever not gentle?!” Lance questions waving his hands before continuing. Hunk has his eyes closed while Pidge massages him but still seems to glare at the two for disrupting the silence.  
“Guys! Quiet please! Enjoy the moment!” Hunk says before relaxing again. You smirk at the team before Shiro steps towards them.  
“Alright everyone, we should get some sleep. Early day tomorrow.” Hunk looks to Shiro upset as Pidge stops massaging him and stands up.  
“Aww. But I want to stay up. I am not tired at all.” Shiro glances at Hunk with a dad stare, silently asking him to question him, before Hunk quickly stands up and rubs his neck nervously.  
“On second thought, I could get some sleep.”  
‘Man, Shiro’s already got the dad stare down…” You think smiling to yourself and turning to your room.  
“Good night, everyone.” Lance says, entering his room and smiling at the others.  
Everyone collectively says goodnight as you enter your room, Pidge following behind you and closing the door to your room. She walks over to your bed and you notice she has her bag from earlier, taking your bag out of it and placing it on the bed. She then proceeds to flop onto your large bed face first, just relaxing as you pick up your bag and begin taking out the things in it.  
“So, you know there will be a ton of sleepovers right?” She asks voice muffled through the blankets.  
“Of course, Katie. Wouldn’t expect anything else.” You say, taking out your phone, headphones, and drawing notebook out of your pack. Pidge flips onto her stomach on her bed and looks at you unpacking your bag.  
“So, Y/n… Lance seems to be throwing winks your way lately…” You smirk but shake your head at her comment.  
“Lance flirts with everyone and everything he can, Pidge. Besides, he seemed pretty smitten with Allura.” You notice a medkit and a few other medial items in your pack that you decide to leave inside, placing the pack on the back of the chair at the desk. You walk over to your bed and flop down beside Pidge, your wings spreading across it.  
“Oh brother. You’re right. Ignore that idiot.” You turn to look at her.  
“What do you think I normally do?” Pidge laughs at your statement before looking back to the ceiling.  
“Allura… She-she kinda reminds me of Mary.” You clench the blanket at that statement, remembering that awful girl you dated before she cheated on you. Even though they looked similar, you could already tell Allura was not that type of person.  
“Yeah, but Mary was a cheater and I don’t believe Allura would ever do that to someone.” You sit up while talking and Pidge rolls over in frustration towards you, being dramatic.  
“Come on, Y/n, you haven’t dated anyone since Brendan and I don’t have anyone to tease you about.”  
“Well short stack, I think we’ll be here a while so it’ll be a while before you can tease me about a crush.” She sighs dramatically before sitting up with you.  
“Fineeeee.” You think about Earth for a few more seconds before Pidge gasps and holds a hand to her mouth, eyes wide.  
“Oh god, mom.” Your heart plummets at the statement, remembering the one family member not in space right now. Your mother. You grab Pidges shoulder and pull her to lean onto you.  
“It’ll be okay. We will see her again. With Matt and Dad.” She clenches your shirt and goes quiet.  
“But what if we can’t find them Y/n? What if-” You stop her before she can continue and hold her shoulders to face you. You look at her eyes and noticed tears starting to form in them.  
“Hey, stop.” You say, pulling her into a hug, “Don’t spiral down that rabbit hole any more than we already have. We are going to find them… I swear.” You rub a hand up and down her back, noticing her hitched breath. She holds onto you tightly, crying lightly for a few minutes before letting go and looking at you. She takes one last breath and stands up, nodding to the door.  
“I better go unpack and get to bed. Night, sis.” Pidge gets to the door and smiles, wiping her eyes one last time.  
“Night, goof. Don’t be staying up all night on your computer.” She snorts and rolls her eyes.  
“Okayyyyyy.” She leaves the room, shutting the door behind you. You flop back onto your bed, hoping the others are doing better than Pidge.  
‘Well, let’s go check on them then.’ You stand up and stretch your arms out, your wings automatically stretching with them. You glance up at them and smile, excited for training with Coran tomorrow.  
You walk out into the hallway, closing the door behind you, and go to Lance’s room first, knocking on his door. He opens it up and you notice his head covered with a towel from his shower and a face mask on.  
“Hey L/n, unpacked yet?” You gape at him, wondering where he found the mask, before answering.  
“Uh yeah, I have to make my bed still. You hitting the hay?” He nods and walks into his room, flopping on his already made bed.  
“Oh yeah, can’t function without my beauty sleep. BTW, face masks and cleansers are in the second drawer down on the right side of the sink.”  
“How did you find those already- Never mind, thanks.” You give him a thankful, amused smile before leaning against the door.  
“Of course, ninja.” You look at him in confusion.  
“Ninja?”  
“Oh yeah, Hunk and I collectively agreed on your new nickname. You are now dubbed: Ninja.” You roll your eyes, thinking back to your old nickname at the garrison.  
“Anything’s better than ‘mom.’ I like it. But I’m not a ninja, Lance.” He hops up from the bed and walks back to you, moving his head back and forth.  
“Ah, potato; potato. Mom was a great nickname for your information. Now, Pidge has graciously allowed me to borrow her headphones and I am going to get to bed.” Lance grabs the headphones and his phone, ready to get to bed and dimming the lights. You are surprised Lance was able to borrow Pidge’s headphones but know he probably just kept bugging her until she finally gave them to him. You step back quickly, hoping you weren’t keeping Lance.  
“Oh. Sorry! Hope I wasn’t keeping you.” He shakes his head, smiling as he gets into his bed.  
“You’re all good. Nice to check in with you. Night, beautiful!” You laugh and blush lightly at the nickname and respond before shutting his door.  
“Good night Lance.” You move over to Hunk’s room, his door open, and peek your head in, knocking lightly on the door frame. You see Hunk with his back to you, in his pajamas from earlier, and with clothes in his hands.  
“Knock knock.” You say as Hunk turns to face you, startled, after closing his drawer. He has a bundle of clothes in his arms that fall out of his hands onto the ground. He looks upset at the clothes but gives you a smile.  
“Who’s there?” You roll your eyes and walk over to help him  
“Getting ready to sleep, Hunk?” You ask, grabbing some of the clothes and folding them before handing them to Hunk.  
“Oh yeah. Just wanted to put my clothes away before doing my breathings. Got a little overwhelmed in the moment for a sec.” Hunk smiles, nervously, as he puts the clothes in his drawer and faces you.  
“Oh, you need some help?”  
“All good. Your breathing methods are really helping out.” The comment makes you smile.  
“I’m glad Hunk. Please let me know if you need anything.” You say, heading for the door. Hunk reaches out a hand, gesturing you to wait.  
“Well, I was gonna ask Allura tomorrow but, if there’s some sort of kitchen in the castle, wanna try and cook something?! The food goo from earlier was so weird and I really want to experiment with the other stuff Allura has!” You smile brightly, not having cooked with Hunk in a long time, and nod, bouncing on your heels.  
“That sounds amazing. We haven’t cooked in so long!” He nods, excited.  
“Well, I’ve got you down as my sous-chef so, you better be ready cause it is on!” You laugh with Hunk before heading to the door and exiting, getting ready to close it. Hunk heads to his bed before giving a wave to you.  
“Good night Hunk.”  
“Good night, ninja…” You glance inside the room at Hunk, who you hear laughing, and give him your best mom look.  
“Hey, Lance suggested it!” You roll your eyes before closing the door, not liking how fast the nickname is catching on. You walk over to Keith and give a light knock, waiting for the door. It opens and you see Keith, still in his clothes, but looking ready to sleep.  
“Hey.” You say.  
“Hey.” Keith responds, being quiet.  
“You have everything you need?” He nods his head, leaning against the door frame.  
“Oh, yeah. There’s a weird control panel in the room that’s helpful.” You laugh, remembering Lance’s attempt to figure out the bed settings earlier. You didn’t catch a good look at his bed when you checked in on him but wonder.  
“Did Lance ever figure out how to make his bed bigger?” You ask, smiling at Keith.  
“I don’t think so.” Keith says, letting out a light laugh. You laugh with him and then take a step back.  
“Alright well, just saying good night.” Keith looks surprised at the statement.  
“Oh, umm, good night, Y/n.” He gives a half-hearted smile before nodding to you, getting ready to close his door.  
“Good night, Keith.” He closes the door and you sigh, just needed to check in on Shiro before you hear a door in the hallway open. You turn around and see Shiro exiting his room, walking over to you. You meet him by Pidge’s door in the hallway.  
“Seems you already checked in with everyone.” You blush slightly and shrug your shoulders.  
“Yeah. Force of habit. Hunk and Lance always called me ‘mom’ at the academy because I usually checked in with them before lights out.” He exhales lightly in amusement but looks to you.  
“Nothing wrong with that. I can tell you care for them. Speaking of, you’re Pidge’s sister?” You nod your head, crossing your arms over your chest.  
“Adopted. I didn’t know my parents and the Holts took me in when I was a baby. They had Matt and then K-Pidge after taking me in. I’m three years older than Pidge and two older than Matt but we’ve always been close.” You mentally kick yourself for almost slipping up but Shiro nods and rubs his neck.  
“I can see it. She looks up to you.” Your eyes widen at the statement, looking at Shiro bewildered.  
“How did you-” He holds up his hands in comfort, shaking them lightly.  
“I knew the Holts personally on the Kerberos mission and Matt always talked about his amazing little sister and older sister back on Earth. I put two and two together and yeah.” You nod your head, not surprised he figured it out.  
“Dang. Yeah, you figured it out. Pidge had to go undercover at the Garrison as a male student after they threw her out when she was looking for information on the Kerberos mission.” He laughs, thinking of Pidge going through all that before his smile fades and he looks to the ground.  
“I promise you, I will find them.” He looks at you with a determined face, ready to find the Holts and you smile.  
“Thank you, Shiro. I will help in any way I can.” He smiles and nods to you, looking at Pidges room before you continue.  
“Knowing Pidge, she’s still up researching.” You walk over to her door and bang on it a few times, hearing a startled yelp and crash from inside, most likely her falling off of her bed.  
“Go to bed you gremlin!” You say, not opening her door.  
“How did you know I was up?!”  
“Pidge!”  
“Okay! Okay.” Shiro laughs at the interaction, holding a hand over his mouth.  
“Alright. Well, I’m glad we could talk Y/n. The White Lion chose a worthy paladin.”  
“Thanks, Shiro. Same for Black. I’ve just got to figure out how to use these.” You gesture to your wings, spreading them out behind you.  
“I heard Coran in your room earlier. Is he going to be helping you out?” You shake your head, moving your wings softly back to a neutral position.  
“Yep. Early wake-up call but nothing I’m not used to.”  
“Excited?”  
“Nervous. But yeah.”  
“You’ll be fine.” Shiro says, moving back towards his room, “I’ll stop by with the team later if you want, give you some encouragement.”  
“Sounds awesome Shiro. Thanks.” You also begin to move, sleep tugging you to your bed.  
“Alright, well, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in too long and my bed is calling. Great to have you on the team, L/n. Night!” Shiro lightly waves and you return in, both of you in front of your individual doors.  
“Night.” You open the door and yawn, wanting to sleep. You quickly make your bed, take off your bracelet, and climb under the covers.   
It doesn’t take long before you start drifting off, the humming of the castle lulling you to sleep. 

I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defenders or its characters. This is a reader insert story based on the events in the tv series.   
Y/n= Your name  
L/n= Last name  
""=dialogue  
''=Thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defenders or its characters. This is a reader insert story based on the events in the tv series.  
> Y/n= Your name  
> L/n= Last name  
> ""=dialogue  
> ''=Thoughts


End file.
